Financial Times recently profiled the amount Nigerian elites spend on luxury travel. They also noted that targeting the elite’s private air fleets might be a good place to start making spending cuts
Read their a part of their article below.
“The high cost of travel for government officials is unsurprising. The Nigerian elite has a taste for luxury travel, shown by the proliferation of private jets in the country.
A 2012 investigation by Nigerian newspaper Punch found that wealthy Nigerians spent $6.5bn on private planes between 2007 and 2012, making the country the biggest market for them in Africa.
Not all of them were bought with private funds. Under former president Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) acquired several new private jets, bringing its total to 11.
According to the UN, 46 per cent of Nigerians live in poverty, rising to 70 per cent in rural areas.
It is not clear whether the finance ministry’s targeted savings will address the lavish amounts spent on private jets by officials. The ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment.”.
Read the full article on Financial Times.
