Tinubu’s South Africa Trip: ‘Details Of Private Jet Owners Emerge’

President Bola Tinubu departed from Lagos on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Naija News gathered that the President travelled in a private jet belonging to his ally, Gilbert Chagoury, a Lebanese businessman.

Tinubu arrived at Waterkloof Air Force Base, located on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, on Tuesday evening.

The South African presidential media team released video and photos of Tinubu stepping off a Dassault Falcon 8X aircraft.

However, Naija News has learned that the private jet with the registration 9H-GRC is owned by Chagoury Group, a conglomerate owned by Gilbert Chagoury, who is a known business partner of the Nigerian President.

“To be more precise: the Falcon 8X (9H-GRC) is owned by the Chagoury Group and operated by Hyperion Aviation: 9H-GRC, Hyperion Aviation.

The Federal Government frequently leases this Falcon 8X, due to reliability issues of the current PAF. 9H-GRC joined 5N-FGZ and 5N-FGW today on a trip to South Africa for the inauguration of the president,” @avinngblog, an X account known for aviation news in Nigeria added.

Further investigation by SaharaReporters into an aircraft registration database showed that the private jet, along with others owned by the group, is operated by Hyperion Aviation.

The Dassault Falcon 8X was initially operated by Aviation SA before being transferred to Amjet Executive.

The aircraft, first registered under the Chagoury Group, was subsequently operated by Hyperion Aviation, a business jet charter company based in Malta.