Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari’s luxury Mercedes broke down on the way to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in 2019. He did not give a date or the event the president was attending when the purported incident happened.

Mr. Shehu, in an article he wrote to commemorate Mr. Buhari’s 78th birthday on Thursday, touted Mr. Buhari as a frugal leader with a decent lifestyle for refusing to purchase new official cars despite having N400 million earmarked for them.

“President Buhari equally abhors ostentatious living style,” Mr. Shehu said. “When a Permanent Secretary, at those early briefings announced to him that he was in receipt of N400 million from the treasury for the purchase of new cars for his office, the President’s question was, “what is wrong with the cars left behind by the former President? They are alright for my use.”

“He continued to use those Jonathan cars until just a year ago when one of the two Mercedes Benz cars broke down on the way to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,” the spokesman claimed without providing any evidence.

However, Mr. Shehu did not mention how Mr. Buhari has continued to use the aircraft inherited by his predecessor since he assumed office over five years ago in spite of calls for the aircrafts to be sold out to cut cost of governance.

Citizens criticised Mr. Buhari when one of his daughters, Hanan, flew one of the presidential aircraft to Bauchi State in January for her private business.