Nigerians Decry Alleged Costs of Presidential Jet in London Airport

Mark Babatunde July 03, 2017
The official aircraft of the Nigerian president has been parked at a London airport for more than seven weeks. Photo Credit: shipsandports.com

Many Nigerians have taken to social media to lament the allegedly large costs of parking the presidential jet at a London airport for nearly two months.

NAF 001, the official aircraft of the Nigerian president, has reportedly been parked at a London airport for more than seven weeks since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari traveled in it to the U.K. to receive medical treatment for undisclosed illness on May 8th.

With no word from Mr. Buhari’s aides about his scheduled date of return, Nigerians have been speculating on the cost of keeping the presidential jet in the U.K.:

 

A number of unverified sources say it costs between £4,000 and £5,000 a day to keep the presidential jet in the London parking space, but presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu rejected the estimates as untrue in a Thursday statement:

We have also read claims about outrageous fees allegedly paid by Nigeria. The published amounts are totally untrue. Aircraft conveying heads of state all over the world usually enjoy waivers even where payments for parking are differentiated by aircraft categories, Shehu said.

The spokesman said that even in the absence of a waiver, daily payments for parking space would not exceed £1,000, which he described as a quarter of the amount being peddled.

According to Shehu, President Buhari is not the first — nor will he be the last — to have a presidential aircraft standing by for him. He added that it was global standard operating procedure to have an aircraft ready and waiting for a president and commander-in-chief whenever he (or she) is abroad.

All past heads of this country have had this privilege, and the part that surprises the most is that leaders who in the past traveled with three Nigerian aircraft did not suffer this trenchant criticism.

President Buhari, 74, has been dogged by health challenges since he was sworn in as president in 2015.

The exact nature of his illness has never been made public, but his ability to continue in his capacity as elected president remains a hot topic in Nigeria due to his constant need to be away from the country in order to receive treatment.

Last Edited by:Abena Agyeman-Fisher Updated: June 19, 2018

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