Since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari on the 29th of May, the private jet business in Nigeria has taken a hit following governors 'cutting their clothes according to their sizes'.

The CEO of private jet operating company says this is due to the president's "body language" — a euphemism for the Spartan lifestyle and the anti-graft stance of Buhari who, many consider, will soon release the anti-corruption agencies on public officers.

“Clearly, since the governors reduced their patronage, our business has been seriously hit. That is the major cause of the lull. Without the governors, our business cannot boom,” he said.



A second aspect is the enormous debts states are owing, another operator says.

"I don’t know of any governor who would want to be caught flying in chartered jets by his banker. Even if the banker does not say anything to his face, you will see the story in the media the following day of how the governor of a debtor state is still flying jets around.”

“Those who used to patronise charter services from the business sector still do, at least to visit their branches at different parts of the country. But the major clients who are political office holders and other highly placed public servants have gone back to their shells. We no longer help fly their girlfriends around as we used to.”

This is connected to another aspect — the matter of unpaid salaries in many states, some running into eight months.

Charter operators receive $6,500 per hour for Hawker aircraft type and $8,000 for Challenger aircraft, and charges are usually calculated in “block time” which is not based on “flight time”: an aircraft could wait for long at the holding point on the runway while the client is conducting his or her business.

Out of 146 private jets functioning in Nigeria, 80 % are used for charter services. About 40 operate legal charter services. Meanwhile, about 100 have foreign registration and NCAA recognises them as privately owned but most of them are unlawfully into charter.


The Cable