Lagos, Nigeria – 7 August 2025 – In a nation battling rampant inflation, widespread poverty, and a crumbling currency, the revelation that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has disbursed ₦26.38 billion on maintaining the presidential aircraft fleet over the past 18 months is not merely astonishing – it is profoundly insulting. This occurs in a Nigeria where hospitals are devoid of essential medications, schools lack roofs, and the minimum wage scarcely covers the cost of a bag of rice.
To contextualise, the price of a single presidential jet, such as the Gulfstream G550, hovers around $100 million – roughly ₦155 billion at today’s exchange rates. One might attempt to justify such expenditure if the aircraft were in constant use, but sources suggest the fleet was deployed no more than 60 times during the period examined, equating to fewer than one flight every nine days. This results in maintenance costs exceeding ₦439 million per flight – a figure that defies reason.
If this pattern continues until the conclusion of Tinubu’s term in 2027, the cumulative maintenance expenses could match the outlay for a new jet, transforming the endeavour into a financial farce.
Exacerbating the issue, obsolete aircraft are left to languish. The Falcon 900B, once offered for sale, has been sighted idle and unsold in Switzerland – yet another emblem of Nigeria’s pervasive culture of squander. Even if sold, the revenues are likely to vanish into the insatiable vortex of fleet upkeep.
The Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) encompasses 10 aircraft:
- Boeing 737 BBJ – the principal presidential aircraft
- Gulfstream G550
- Gulfstream G500
- Dassault Falcon 7X
- Two Falcon 900s
- Cessna Citation
- Hawker Siddeley 125
- Two Agusta helicopters
The majority of these remain underutilised, devouring taxpayer funds through maintenance whilst serving primarily for elite convenience rather than national imperatives.
According to reports from The Punch newspaper, expenditures surged erratically, including ₦5.08 billion on a single day in April 2024 and ₦5.6 billion over one week in August. These sums cover routine outlays – maintenance, fuel, hangar charges, crew remuneration, and logistics – not extraordinary missions.
Aviation specialists in the report label the fleet “economically unsustainable,” critiquing its scale, expense, and variety as hindrances to efficiency. They advocate reducing it to four essential aircraft, sharing others with the National Assembly, and disposing of the remainder. Yet, will leaders heed this advice?
This saga mirrors a grim reality of Nigerian governance: the privileged soar whilst the populace struggles. As fuel prices escalate, electricity tariffs rise, and taxes proliferate, the presidency squanders billions on seldom-used luxury aircraft.
Such profligacy is not only wasteful; it is unethical.
Hard questions must be posed: How can over ₦26 billion on opulent jets be defended when most Nigerians walk to work, miss meals, or endure without electricity? What signal does this convey to the beleaguered citizenry? Why prioritise presidential luxury over public well-being?
The time has come to halt this folly. Prune the fleet. Auction the surplus. Channel the billions into education, healthcare, and employment. Nigeria must cease cruising towards fiscal catastrophe on autopilot.
