Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, on Sunday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to respect the official policy of the Federal Government and stop members of his family from using any of the aircraft in the presidential fleet forthwith.
Falana’s call in a statement on Sunday comes on the heels of pictures which emerged in the social media on Saturday showing that Buhari’s daughter, Hanan was conveyed in the presidential jet to attend the Durbar in Bauchi, last Thursday, on the invitation of the Emir of Bauchi, Rilwanu Adamu.
In the statement titled, “President’s Children are Not Authorised to use Presidential Jets” described Hanan Buhari’s use of a presidential jet for a private engagement as an utter breach of the official policy of the Federal Government.
Noting that there was no such precedence, he stressed that his call on Buhari to stop the members of the family from using any of the aircraft in the presidential fleet was also with a view to cutting down on waste.
Furthermore, he chided a statement credited to the presidency that the use of the aircraft by members of the first family to attend to private engagements was “normal practice”, noting that such was not backed by any extant law or official policy.
According to Falana, even the use of the aircraft in the presidential fleet by the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice of Nigeria had not been approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission.
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The statement read in parts: “The statement credited to the Presidency is incorrect as it is at variance with the official policy of the Federal Government.
“In other words, the official policy does not authorise the children of the President to use the presidential jets to attend to private social functions. In fact, there is no precedent whatsoever for such privatisation of the presidency of Nigeria.
“Having publicly declared that his administration would maintain “a compact and reliable aircraft for the safe airlift of the President, the Vice President and other government officials that go on special missions”, President Buhari is estopped from allowing members of the first family to use the jets for their private affairs.
“The so-called “normal practice” of using the aircraft in the presidential fleet by members of the first family to attend to private engagements is not backed by any extant law or official policy.
“Even the use of the aircraft in the presidential fleet by the Senate President, House Speaker and Chief Justice of Nigeria has not been approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission which is the statutory body empowered by the Constitution and the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission Act to determine the remuneration and allowances of all political office holders in Nigeria.
“In view of the foregoing, we call on President Buhari to stop the members of his family from using any of the aircraft in the presidential fleet with a view to cutting down on waste.
“A country that is said to be the headquarters of the greatest number of poverty striking people in the world cannot afford to waste billions of Naira on the use of presidential aircraft and hiring of commercial jets by state governors that are owing workers several months of unpaid salaries.”
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