President Bola Tinubu will embark on a trip to France on Monday, August 19, departing from Abuja, the nation’s capital, the Presidency revealed Sunday. Presidential Spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced this in a statement. Although the Presidency did not state the purpose of Tinubu’s visit, it said “The President will return to the country after his brief work stay in France.”
It would be the president’s first travel aboard the newly acquired presidential jet. But this is the fourth trip the President is making to the European country since his assumption of office. So far, he has been to Equatorial Guinea, London, the United Kingdom (twice); Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (twice); Nairobi, Kenya; Porto Norvo, Benin Republic; Pretoria, South Africa; Accra, Ghana; New Delhi, India; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; New York, the United States of America; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (twice); Berlin, Germany; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dakar, Senegal and Doha, Qatar.
It was, however, learnt that Tinubu’s Monday trip to Paris would be his first aboard Nigeria’s new presidential jet, which sources said landed at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, at 8:30 p.m on Sunday. The aircraft was received by officials of Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet, led by their commander, Olayinka Olusola, an air vice marshal.
The Airbus 330 aircraft is a repossessed one recovered from an indebted oil sheikh who used the aeroplane as collateral for a loan he obtained from an unidentified German bank to buy it. L & L International LLC, an American aviation firm based in Miami, Florida, brokered the deal, which saw Nigeria buy the aircraft for over $100 million.
A presidency official who did not want his identity disclosed, described the acquisition as an excellent deal for Nigeria, putting the aircraft’s real market value in the region of $600 million. The multi-engine prestige jet, which has an elaborate VIP configuration, is now Nigeria’s Airforce One, with registration number 5N-NGA.
