Buying presidential jet while Nigerians are hungry is failure, Donald Duke tells Tinubu
By Jeffrey Agbo
Former governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, has expressed his disapproval of President Bola Tinubu’s purchase of a presidential jet.
Last week, the presidency announced that it acquired a new Airbus A330 to replace the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 bought during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
In an interview on Inside Sources, a Channels TV programme, on Friday, Duke called it a “failure in leadership” considering that Tinubu’s economic policies plunged many Nigerians into hardship.
“There is no glamour in saying your people are going through hard times; it is a failure of your leadership. If I am the head of a family, I want my family to have everything. I don’t want life to be difficult for them,” he said.
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“If life is difficult, then I feel I have failed to provide for them or do the things I ought to have done. I would ask him (Tinubu) to see the Nigerian nation as his family. What is good for his family is good for the nation.
“Buying a new aircraft or yacht or living large is a failure. You can’t have kids who are hungry and you are living lavishly, going to parties and wearing the biggest agbada.”
Speaking on the security challenges facing the country, Duke urged President Tinubu to hold the heads of security agencies accountable and emphasized that there should be consequences for the poor performance of security officers.
He said, “Hold the security agencies responsible for a failure of security. There should be consequences. You cannot sit down and say you are a DPO, commissioner of police or you are GOC and crime is being committed in your domain. Hold them responsible.”