The declining fortunes of the domestic airlines have made President Goodluck Jonathan’s 10-aircraft Presidential Air Fleet larger than the fleets of three domestic airlines combined, investigations by Punch correspondent revealed on Tuesday.
The three carriers are Chanchangi, MedView, and FirstNation airlines. Chanchangi has one aircraft; Medview Airlines, three; while FirstNation has two.
IRS Airlines, with five aircraft in its fleet, has only one that is currently operational. The four others have been sent overseas for routine maintenance for a long time now.
It can be technically assumed that the Presidential Air Fleet is bigger than the four domestic airlines, according to industry experts.
"Everyone remembers that Oprah went all out for Obama during the 2008 presidential election. What was not reported was that, in return, Oprah was promised unique access to the White House if Obama won. She’d get regular briefings on initiatives and a heads-up on programs to give her material for her fledgling cable network, OWN.
"I had a friend of mine that is a pastor and we were discussing how we were going to deliver it. My girl even asked afterwards “isn’t that weird if Jesus comes on stage or something like that?” No we do plays all the time where people play Jesus. What’s awesome about Christianity is that we are allowed to portray God. We'e allowed to draw an image of Him. We’re allowed to make movies about Him. Other religions you can’t do that. Michelangelo did it…It’s a painting, it’s a sculpture, it’s a moving opera, it's a play, it’s a message. I’m not even going to do any comparisons with that. God knows where my heart is at."
Even as the minister of aviation began a new spin today that the BMW armored cars purchased by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for her use were done on "hire-purchase", SaharaReporters has unearthed new details about the $1.6 million spent by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to purchase the armored BMW cars for Nigeria's Aviation Minister Stella Oduah.
A highly reliable source has told SaharaReporters that the shady deal for the car was done entirely between Coscharis Motors Limited, a dealership from which the cars were purchased, one of Ms. Oduah’s private firms based in Abuja, and First Bank of Nigeria.
“The NCAA was not even aware of the deal until the minister told them to sign that they had received two BMW cars,” said our source.
After inking the deal, Coscharis Motors, sellers of the highly inflated automobiles, reportedly gave the Aviation Minister more than N112 million as kickbacks. Our source added that Cosmas Maduka, who owns Coscharis Motors, pocked N60 million for each of the two BMW cars.
"As it is now, the situation is very disturbing. He has lost his voice but we believe with God, all things are possible. Governor Fashola directed him to First Cardiologist Hospital Ikoyi and the result from the test has been sent to him. We really appreciate the governor's step, it's in the right direction. But he hasn't said he would give Pa Kasumu N12million as been peddled and we have not received any money from him. So, we are still appealing to all the good-hearted Nigerians to come to the aid of Pa Kasumu because weather or not he is flown abroad, the ailment needs serious maintenance which will cost a lot of money".
Contrary to some recent media reports, the Federal government has not adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach in its negotiations with ASUU. Rather, the approach is focused on positive engagement and achieving sustainable solutions to the challenges facing higher education in the country. That is why President Goodluck Jonathan recently appealed to ASUU to respond to government’s positive steps by calling off its strike in the interest of suffering students and parents.
