Each of the two armoured BMW 760 Li cars bought for the Minister for Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority is more expensive than the British Prime Minister, David Cameron’s car.
While Oduah’s cars go for $800,000 (about N127.5m) each, Cameron’s armoured Jaguar XJ X351 car costs £200,000 (about N52m).
The aviation minister’s media aide had said the cars, manufactured in Germany in 2008, were acquired “in response to the clear and imminent threat to her personal security and life.”
An online news portal, Sahara Reporters, reported that the NCAA paid about $1.6m (about N255m) for just two pieces, which was enough to buy eight pieces of same BMW model and spec elsewhere.
Cameron’s Jaguar car, according to Daily Mail, “is specially modified for carrying Cameron and contains many features to stop a potential terrorist attack.”
Even at the N52m-price, Cameron’s car reportedly has more sophisticated features, including special bullet and bomb-proof security armour, run-flat tyres, bullet proof glass and a self-contained oxygen supply.
To prove that the price of Oduah’s cars might have been inflated, Sahara Reporters reported that Vista BMW in Florida, United States of America, sold a fully armoured BMW 760 Li car built to withstand AK 47-7.62×39 ammo and lower calibre weapons, for only $162,195 (about N26m).
Similarly, the armoured car ballistic division of the International Armouring Corporation in Utah, USA, said the cars could have been sold for $200,000 (about N32m) each, shipping to Nigeria inclusive.