The Federal Government has put its two decade-old Boeing 737-700 Business Jet up for sale, with the listing hosted by AMAC Aerospace in Basel, Switzerland.
The aircraft, acquired for $43m in 2005 during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure, is being sold months after President Bola Tinubu transitioned to a refurbished Airbus A330- 200 last August amid economic concerns and public scrutiny.
This is according to details obtained from a USbased aircraft listing site, The Controller: 2005 BOEING BBJ For Sale in Basle.
The plane had undergone inspections and maintenance in preparation for sale, according to aviation marketplace Controller.com. Nigeria’s presidential air fleet, overseen by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), has about 10 aircraft.
These include fixed wings such as a 13-year-old Gulfstream Aerospace G550, Gulfstream G500, two Falcon 7Xs, a Hawker 4000, and a Challenger 605. Three of the seven fixed wings are reportedly unserviceable.
The rotor-wing fleet includes two Agusta 139s and two Agusta 101s, all operated by the Nigerian Air Force, but supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Both the Buhari and Tinubu administrations had earlier pledged to streamline the PAF for cost-efficiency. Until August 2024, the BBJ-737 with tail number 5N-FGT ferried the President until the administration acquired a refurbished Airbus A330-200, registered 5N-FGA.
The aircraft, acquired for roughly $100 million (approximately N160 billion) from a repossessed German bank asset, arrived in France for initial maintenance and reconfiguration in mid-2024.
However, since February 2025, the President has been using a San Marino-registered BBJ (REG: T7-NAS). With over 19 years in service, the Presidency said the BBJ became increasingly expensive to maintain and subject to safety scrutiny, particularly after a mechanical incident during an official trip to Saudi Arabia in April 2024.
Despite a partial refurbishment in July 2024, including upgrades to its first-class seating, new carpeting, and completion of C1-C2 inspections, the presidency is retiring the jet and listing it for sale.
