The Presidency on Thursday explained the reason behind the
retention of the Presidential Aircraft, NAF 001, in London where Pres.
Buhari is currently receiving medical attention.
The
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba
Shehu, was reacting to recent reports over an outrageous fee allegedly
being paid for parking the aircraft in London since May 10.
Shehu
said, “The Presidency is constrained to decry criticisms, mostly on
social media, on the retention in London of the Presidential Aircraft,
NAF 001 as mostly informed by lack of understanding of protocol around
foreign trips by Heads of State all over the world.
It
is important to state that for reasons of protocol, national security,
diplomacy and prestige, there is no world leader who travels abroad and
is left without plans for immediate return or possible evacuation.
This
is a standard operating procedure. 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.
We
have been assured that where the waiver is not granted, payment will
not exceed £1,000, which is a quarter of the amount being peddled.
All
past Heads of this country have had this privilege, and the part that
surprises the most is that leaders who in the past travelled with three
Nigerian aircraft did not suffer this trenchant criticism.
We
appeal to Nigerians to ignore opposition campaign aimed at derailing
this administration’s big plans for the country. This is a government
that is constructing the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Mambila Power Plant, the
East-West and the North-South standard gauge railway lines.
We
are a government that has saved this country an annual loss of N2
trillion from fraudulent petroleum subsidy schemes by influential
citizens and their children and rid the public service of about 50,000
ghost workers. The Buhari administration certainly deserves a chance.”
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