Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the seizure of Nigeria’s presidential jets offshore.
A court in Paris granted the seizure of the three presidential jets as part of a legal battle involving a Chinese company.
Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company whose export processing zone management contract was revoked by the Ogun State government in 2016, had approached the court, which listed a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ and an Airbus A330-243 stationed at Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports, for seizure.
In a post on his X handle, Obi described the development as an international embarrassment.
The former Anambra governor accused the Tinubu government of operating in secrecy and running the government like a personal family asset.
“The trending international news on the seizure of three Jets belonging to Nigeria’s Presidential fleet is yet another of many embarrassing things exposing our failed leadership and our attitude to the rule of law even in a democracy,” Obi wrote.
“It has also exposed multiple dimensions to our leadership failure and our insensitivity to the plight of the growing poor class in our midst. The fact that the federal government went ahead with the jet deal despite the cacophonous cry against the purchase of a Presidential jet at this time when the people are going through a horrifying economic hardship shows the insensitivity of this administration.
“Added to it is the embarrassing aspect of our country’s Presidential jets being held for contractual breaches arising from yet another dimension of inadequate leadership tidiness. I have been loud in my demand over time that the government at all levels should be accountable to the people, meaning that they must be very transparent in all their dealings.
“Until a court in France prohibits Nigeria from moving or selling these three jets, Nigerians have no iota of information about both the buying and selling of these aircraft.”
