As controversy trailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s flight to Paris in the new Airbus A330 purchased by the Federal Government, Senior Special Assistant (Print Media) to the President, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz has said that the plane was not a brand new one but a previously used one that was bought through auction by a bank.

He disclosed in an interview with the BBC Hausa monitored by our correspondent in Kaduna that the plane was previously owned by an Arab, before it was bought by the Federal Government.

According to him, the previous plane was dangerous to use and had to make a detour during a flight in which the Vice President was on board the plane.

It could be recalled that the decision to purchase the aircraft for President Tinubu was arrived at after an investigative hearing by the National Assembly that questioned the Boeing B737-700’s (BBJ) safety record and cost efficiency.

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The new Airbus A330, now replaced the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700(BBJ) bought under the Presidency of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Abdulaziz explained that the Airbus A330 was bought from funds in the ‘service wide vote’ , a sort of specialy kept fund for certain special purposes, and not from the budget.