The Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence has backed its House of Representatives counterpart on the call for new aircraft for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima.
The Chairman of the Committee, Shehu Buba, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES Saturday night from Saudi Arabia, where he is performing this year’s hajj, said not quickly overhauling the presidential air fleet could endanger the lives of the president and his deputy.
The House Committee on National Security and Intelligence had in a report forwarded to the presidency asked the federal government to immediately procure two airplanes for Messrs Tinubu and Shettima to secure the transportation of the country’s top officials.
The call by the House Committee immediately triggered widespread criticisms by some Nigerians who questioned the wisdom in buying new aeroplanes at a time Nigeria is facing severe economic hardship.
But speaking on the matter Saturday, Mr Buba said, “Have you seen the report of the committee? The committee’s recommendations are clear enough. To arrive at those recommendations, the committee conducted an investigative hearing and interacted with officials of the Presidential Air Fleet.
“The committee obtained the necessary information, which led it to call for the overhauling of the Presidential Air Fleet. It is true that our country is facing economic difficulty, but that will not be a justification to jeopardize or endanger the lives of our president, our vice president, other top officials of government and that of any citizen for that matter.
“We are all aware of the air mishaps in Iran and Malawi recently, which claimed the lives of the president and vice president of those countries, respectively. We commiserate with the people and governments of those counties. But we must also, as a people, do whatever is necessary to lower the possibility of such disasters in our country.
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“No sacrifice is too much to pay for the safety of our leaders and citizens. We elected them. So, we have a collective responsibility to protect them at all times.”
When asked why lawmakers are pushing for new aircraft for the nation’s top leaders but uninterested in calling on the government to pay a decent minimum wage to workers, the Senator said, “I am not a spokesman for the House Committee. You can ask its members that question. But I expect you to know that the committee’s remit is national security and intelligence.
“The recommendations they made are related to those matters. The safety of our leaders and the health of the presidential air fleet are matters of national security concerns.
“By raising those matters, it does not mean the committee members do not care about the issue of minimum wage, which is already being well handled by government and organised labour.”
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