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BREAKING: Tinubu abandons presidential fleet, hires private jet for S’Africa trip
President Bola Tinubu may have decided to abandon the presidential fleet in favour of other travel arrangements, with reports coming that he jetted out of the country for Pretoria to attend the inauguration of the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, aboard two private aircraft.
The PUNCH, is reporting that the President, who had been holidaying in Lagos for his Sallah celebrations since last weekend, left Lagos on Wednesday, escorted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, and other government officials.
The paper, quoting a source, who was among those who saw off the President, said he left with members of his team in two private jets, adding: “They went in two private jets. Of course, you are aware that the presidential jets are no longer in good shape.”
Though it claimed that it could not reach Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman or any other senior government official for confirmation, the report said the President left the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, on a Dassault Falcon 8X aircraft around 11:06 am.
Ajuri Ngelale, another spokesman to the President, had earlier informed that his boss would be travelling to South Africa to attend the inauguration of Ramaphosa following his re-election as President for a second term, a fortnight ago.
Indication that all is not well for the presidential fleet, had come when members of the Security Committee of the House of Representatives, gave the Presidency the approval to acquire two new aircraft for the President and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, after auditing the health of the current planes and found them unsafe and not fit for purpose.
But the resolution, has since come under a barrage of criticisms from a groundswell of Nigerians, with Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), practically crying blue murder, as he saw the move as another sign that the government was clearly insensitive to the plight of Nigerians, who have been living under serious economic hardship for years now.
Writing on his X handle on Monday, the LP boss had said: “At a time when our country is on the front page of global newspapers for facing its worst economic crisis, marked by high inflation, a falling currency, and widespread poverty, the government is contemplating buying new presidential jets.
“This demonstrates extreme insensitivity to citizens’ struggles. With rising insecurity, poverty, hunger, and homelessness, this decision highlights the disconnect that is apparent between the government and the people. It is unacceptable as the situation in the country today more than ever demands a more compassionate use of resources, prioritizing citizens’ welfare.
“It’s on record that our presidential jets have an average age of 12 years, purchased when most Nigerians could afford necessities. Now, as our country faces significant challenges, including a high debt profile, our citizens are in even greater need. Instead of adding to our luxuries, we should be focused on alleviating their suffering and finding solutions to their problems.
“For long, our bad leadership has made our priorities, as leaders, to be at variance to the needs of society, which is why we are headed now south, as a nation. To elucidate further, despite dropping down to the fourth-largest economy in Africa, with a GDP of $252 billion and a per capita income of $1,080, with huge debt burdens and borrowing to service debts, yet, we are spending $15 million for our Vice President’s residence, while the USA, the world’s largest economy with a GDP of $25 trillion, about 100 times our GDP, and a per capita income of $80,000, about 80 times ours, still houses their Vice President in Number 1 Observatory Circle, a house built over 100 years ago, and whose value is less than the $15 million we are spending on our VP’s residence.
“A reputable real estate company reports that the US Vice President’s Official Residence is valued at about $7.5 million today. While we had earlier refurbished the old VP residence with $2 million, the over 100-year-old US Vice President’s house has only undergone wide-scale renovations twice, funded by taxpayers’ money; in 1993 and 2021. Every new US VP is free to finance any minor refurbishing from his funds.
“It’s, therefore, time to stop this impunity, insensitivity, and shamelessness and refocus on the needs of our people. We must prioritize education, healthcare, and lifting our citizens out of poverty. Let us work together to build a nation that truly serves its people, not just the interests of a few. Let’s rise to the challenge, and build this new Nigeria which is now more possible than ever before.
But in an immediate clapback, the Presidency came after the former Governor of Anambra State, wondering if his stiff opposition to the idea, meant he wished the President dead, as faulty aircraft had caused the death of some world leaders, including Saulos Chilima, Vice President of Malawi who died in a military helicopter last week and Ebrahim Raisi, President of Iran, who died in an air crash in May.
Railing against Obi’s position, Onanuga, in an interaction with The Punch, had riposted: “Does Peter Obi want the President dead? Is that his wish? Does he want him to continue moving around in a rickety plane and die like the VP of Malawi and Iran President? Let him tell us. This is a basic thing any sane government will do. You can’t toy with your President’s welfare.
“Why will any right-thinking person still want the President to move around in it? In this way, it is the National Assembly that officially recommended that new ones should be bought. Sometimes, Peter Obi opened his mouth to make unnecessary statements.”
A Rivers High Court sitting in Oyigbo Local Government Area has stepped into the escalating political crisis in the state, issuing an interim injunction that temporarily halts further action on the impeachment process against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Nma-Odu.
In a ruling delivered in Port Harcourt, the court restrained the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, alongside thirty-two other defendants — including the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State—from taking steps aimed at advancing the impeachment process.
Specifically, the order barred the Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, from receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any request, resolution, or impeachment-related document from the Assembly for the purpose of constituting an investigative panel, pending the determination of the matter. The injunction is to subsist for seven days.
In the two suits—marked OYHC/7/CS/2026 and OYHC/6/CS/2026—the court also granted the claimants leave to serve the interim order and other originating processes on the first to the thirty-first defendants by pasting them at the gate of the Rivers State Assembly quarters.
The court also directed that the Chief Judge, listed as the 32nd defendant, be served through any staff of the judiciary at his chambers within the court premises.
Justice Fiberesima thereafter adjourned the matter to January 23, 2026, for hearing of the motion on notice, as the legal battle over the impeachment move shifts from the political arena to the courtroom.
On Friday, the Rivers State House of Assembly had called on the Chief Judge of the state to set up a panel to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Fubara and his deputy.
The assembly members, who made the call through a unanimous vote, vowed to continue with the impeachment process.
The lawmakers had earlier addressed a press conference in Port Harcourt, where they accused Fubara of allegedly using blackmail.
Addressing journalists, the deputy speaker, Dumle Maol, claimed Fubara lacked the trust needed to address the crisis rocking the oil-rich state.
They accused the governor of infringing on the 1999 Constitution, saying the parliament was left with no other choice but to apply their legislative power by impeaching him from office.
The lawmakers also claimed the governor and his deputy had resorted to intimidating the parliament.
They, however, thanked President Bola Tinubu for wading into the crisis.
The members also called on the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, to reconvene the House.
Their position came weeks after they initiated an impeachment process against Fubara and Odu. The lawmakers are accusing them of gross negligence, a move that has heightened political tension in the coastal state.
No amount of intervention or pleading will mitigate the case of Siminalayi Fubara at this stage regarding the determination to impeach him, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, vowed on Friday, as they opened a new chapter in the ongoing onslaught against the state governor.
Against the backdrop of what appeared like a lull when they failed to sit on Thursday for the same purpose, the members on their return, hinged the blame to go on with the action on the alleged intransigence of Fubara to retrace his step.
For this reason, the called on the state Chief Judge to set up the panel of investigation to look into the allegations of gross misconduct levied against Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.
Conveying their decision which came in form of a unanimous vote, the assembly members, who vowed to continue with the impeachment process, stressed that no amount of intimidation, blackmail or intervention would stop them this time – the third in the impeachment approach, which was first initiated in November 2023.
Dumle Maol, Deputy Speaker, had earlier told reporters that Fubara lacked the trust needed to address the crisis rocking the oil-rich state, accusing him of multiple infringement on the 1999 Constitution, which left the house with no other choice but to apply their legislative power.
Accusing the governor and his deputy of resorting to intimidation of the parliament, including the dropping of the name of President Bola Tinubu, they thanked the President for wading into the crisis in order to find a solution, but regrated that his efforts were stalled by the same Fubara.
If Peter Obi had mobilised Nigerians against those who rigged him out of the presidential election in 2023, his mandate given to him by the electorate would have been intact and he would have been President today.
This was the contention of Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, who ran with the former Governor of Anambra State, as vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, where Obi was the presidential candidate.
Datti-Ahmed, in an interview currently going viral on social media, told his hosts that anyone seeking to defeat President Bola Tinubu must not rely on the court process but resistance, using Nigerians as was done in the June 12, 1993 election saga against the military.
The outing on Nigeria Right Now, uploaded on YouTube on Thursday, quoted the politician, formerly Senator representing Kaduna Central at the National Assembly, as stating that he made this much clear to Obi, that the judiciary could not resolve the fundamental breaches of the constitution perpetrated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last elections.
Hear him: “I told Peter Obi – Supreme Court cannot give you governor and give you presidency. For God’s sake, stand up and do something. The Nigerian Constitution was clearly breached.
“The Nigerian constitution was clearly breached; section 134 2b. It couldn’t be any clearer. Now, if it was June 12 people, and you breached not just the constitution but just one punctuation in their interest, I swear to God, nobody will sleep. They will take it.
“As much as I dislike the fact that they are using the Nigerian constitution, you must give it to them; they fight for their interest. They can organise rallies and can keep it up for three decades. And you are saying, ‘Let’s go to court; let’s go to court.’
“Whoever is going to defeat Tinubu must be ready to, I will use the word, ‘red eye’. You must show your red eyes because on that day that they are declaring the results, the people declaring fake results are criminals, and those who are stopping the declaration of fake results are good citizens. Whoever is going to defeat Tinubu must show red eyes… there’s no going to court.”
In the 2003 Anambra governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Chris Ngige of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner, but Obi, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), challenged the result and was later affirmed governor by the court of appeal in March 2006.
Similarly, in 2023, Obi challenged Tinubu’s victory, the APC presidential candidate, but his appeal was dismissed up to the supreme court level.
Court halts move to impeach Fubara *Orders CJ to tarry on panel
Impeachment: Do your job, Rivers assembly tells CJ *Insist Fubara must go
Rigging: I warned Obi that judicial option in 2023 won’t work – Datti
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