Some state governors are spending billions of naira to hire private jets despite dwindling resources in their states, an investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday has shown.
Findings revealed that only a few governors use commercial flights to travel to Abuja and other parts of the country from their states as many of them pay for chartered aircraft.
While some of the trips are official engagements, others are for private engagements.
It was discovered that many of the states are in dire financial situations and can hardly pay salaries or meet other contractual obligations, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that even in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown last year, state governors embarked on interstate trips, mostly by private jets.
This was in clear violation of a ban to that effect, which they had agreed on as a measure to mitigate community transmission of the virus.
For instance, on Monday, June 1, 2020, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State flew into Abuja to visit President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to formally inform him of his intention to seek re-election for a second term.
On that same day, the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, led six of his colleagues to Abuja to meet with the then Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on what was believed to be a last-minute effort to save Obaseki’s candidacy ahead of the party’s primary election in Edo.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/despite-dwindling-resources-governors-spend-billions-on-private-jets
