- Tinubu Departs Abuja For Borno, Bauchi, Lagos in Older Presidential Jet
- President to inaugurate projects and attend key social events.
- Jet earlier listed for sale returned to active service.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday departed Abuja for Borno, Bauchi and Lagos aboard the 20 year old Boeing 737 Business Jet earlier listed for sale in July but later withdrawn after attracting low bids.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the President left the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 11.45 am, beginning a multi state working visit and end of year holiday tour.
Ahead of his arrival, the Borno State Police Command said it deployed tactical teams, surveillance units and operatives of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit to ensure tight security across the state.
The trip confirmed the return of the Obasanjo era aircraft with registration number Five November Foxtrot Golf Tango to active service, months after the Federal Government removed it from sale.
The jet, acquired in 2005 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was listed for sale in July 2025 as part of cost reduction measures by the Tinubu administration. It was later delisted in early December after prospective buyers reportedly submitted offers as low as ten million dollars, far below government expectations.
Presidency sources had earlier disclosed that the aircraft was removed from the international sales platform operated by a United States marketing firm following months of unsuccessful attempts to sell it.
The jet underwent partial refurbishment and major C1 and C2 inspections at AMAC Aerospace in Basel, Switzerland, in July 2024. It served successive administrations until August 2024, when the Tinubu government took delivery of a refurbished Airbus A three three zero two hundred.
According to a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s first stop is Maiduguri, where he will inaugurate projects executed by the Babagana Zulum administration with federal support. He will also attend the wedding of Sadeeq Sheriff, son of former Borno governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
From Borno, the President will proceed to Bauchi to condole with the state government and the family of late Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, who died on November twenty seven at the age of one hundred and one.
Tinubu will then travel to Lagos to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays and attend the Eyo Festival on December twenty seven at Tafawa Balewa Square, where his late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, and former Lagos governors, Lateef Jakande and Michael Otedola, will be honoured.
