Nigeria: Obasanjo plea for new plane

The Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has made another appeal for a new presidential jet, after the National Assembly refused to approve the necessary funds last year.

In a nationally televised press conference, President Obasanjo argued that Nigerians must choose between having an aircraft that could do the job or one that, as he put it, was a killer.

Asked if the country could afford such a purchase at present, he said the safety of top officials should be the main consideration.

The appeal follows two recent incidents in which official aircraft developed problems. The vice-president's aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Tenerife at the weekend, and Mr Obasanjo had to return from Switzerland on a commercial flight last month after his plane developed problems.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service