The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said on Thursday that the Presidency had not approached the National Assembly with a request for new presidential jets. He, however, said should such a request be made, the Senate would approve it.
Akpabio said the National Assembly would not succumb to any kind of blackmail from social media. According to him, there were claims making the rounds that the Senate had approved the purchase of new presidential jets for President Bola Tinubu when there was no such request before the lawmakers.
Speaking at the Red Chamber on Thursday, Akpabio said, “We care about the President and we care about the Nigerian people. We will approve things that will benefit the Nigerian people. We will approve things that would improve the living standard of the people. At the same time, we will also take cognizance of the duties of the President. If his vehicle is bad, we will repair the vehicle. If his plane is bad, we will approve money for the repair of the plane. So, that is not an issue. There is nothing before us. I don’t think you should worry about it.”
His Thursday comment comes only days after the Akpabio debunked certain media reports quoting him to have said the National Assembly approved new jets for the President to replace the old and faulty ones.
Last week, the President flew a private jet to South Africa to attend the inauguration of President Ramaphosa.
Recently, the Presidency and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, traded words over alleged plans to buy new presidential jets. While Obi described the alleged plan as insensitive, the Presidency wondered if he would have had the President die flying a faulty jet.
On Thursday, Akpabio said the National Assembly would not succumb to blackmail to shy away from doing the needful if the request for a new presidential jet comes before it.
