NIGERIA’s President Bola Tinubu purchased an Airbus A330 business jet in July 2025 for $100 million, but his Ghanaian counterpart, John Mahama, is proposing to buy one H160 and three H175 helicopters for the Ghana Air Force (GAF) at the cost of €125.97 million.

Also, President Mahama currently flies commercial aircraft anywhere he goes, and does not charter flights like his predecessor, Mr Nana Akufo-Ado.

President Bola Tinubu travelled to France on August 19 last year for ‘work stay’ on the newly acquired private jet as criticism swelled over his perceived lack of compassion for the citizens of the West African nation enduring a cost-of-living crisis. The aircraft was acquired from AMAC Aerospace, according to data on tracking website planespotters.net. It was previously owned by Midroc Aviation, Bloomberg said.

On the other hand, Ghana’s President Mahama presented the aircraft budget and the contract to the Ghanian parliament on December 3. The first contract is between the government of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Defence, and Airbus Helicopter (SAS) in France, for €125.97 million for the supply of one H160 and three H175 helicopters for the GAF.

READ ALSO: Tinubu flies new $100 million jet as Nigerians live in poverty

The second is the sale and purchase contract agreement between the government of Ghana and Dassault Aviation in France, for $60.68 million for the acquisition of one Falcon 6X for the GAF. In other words, Mr Mahama plans to sell one airplane and buy another one at the cost of $60.68 million. This puts the cost of the five aircraft at $186.65 million.

The agreements were tendered by the Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr Ernest Brogya Genfi, to the House on Dec 3 and the Second Deputy Speaker, Mr Andrew Asiamah Amoako, according to Ghana Graphic.

Sector Minister, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who is a member of parliament, told the House that the Minority could be certain that if President Mahama “starts or even attempts” to charter ultra-luxury jets like his predecessor did, “you will certainly hear my voice.”

“You are not hearing my voice now because what I used to complain about is not happening. President Mahama is currently flying commercial flights for all his international travels,” he added.

Tinubu’s $100m private jet

Mr Tinubu’s $100 million private jet purchased last year attracted condemnation, with many Nigerians saying he lacked ‘human sympathy.’

“The decision to buy a presidential jet while people are going through a horrifying economic hardship shows the insensitivity of this administration,” said a presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, in a post on X. “It has also exposed multiple dimensions to our leadership failure and our insensitivity to the plight of the growing poor class in our midst.”

The aircraft was purchased at a time inflation had accelerated to a 28-year high of 34.2 percent in June in Nigeria before slowing in July to 33.4 percent. About 63 percent of persons living within Nigeria (133 million people) were multidimensionally poor, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Tinubu retains presidential aircraft

Thirty-one months after becoming Nigeria’s president, President Tinubu has retained 10 presidential aircraft left by his predecessor, Mr Muhammadu Buhari.

READ ALSO: Economists echo World Bank warning on poverty despite Tinubu’s govt denial

The cost of maintaining presidential fleet jumped from N4.37bn in 2017 to N12.48bn in 2022, according to data obtained from the appropriation bills of the Federal Government, as reported by The Punch.

While N4.37 billion was allocated for the maintenance of the aircraft in 2017, the cost rose to N7.26bn in 2018 and further to N7.30bn in 2019. It reduced to N6.79 billion in 2020 but rose much higher to N12.55 billion in 2021. It slightly reduced to N12.48 billion in 2022.

“President Tinubu should show the people of Nigeria that he cares by cutting down the number of aircraft on the presidential fleet by half,” said a lecturer at a university in the United States, Dr Hamman Danbaba.

“How can you fly in 10 aircraft when the majority of your people cannot eat twice in 24 hours. This is wrong, so wrong,” he added.