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The Federal Government spent astir N26.38bn connected the Presidential Air Fleet wrong the archetypal 18 months of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, indicating the precocious outgo of maintaining enforcement aerial mobility amid persistent calls for austerity.
An investigation of spending records obtained from Govspend, a civic tech level that tracks authorities expenditures, revealed that the disbursements were made betwixt July 2023 and December 2024 for the operational and logistical upkeep of the fleet.
Meanwhile, findings showed that betwixt 2016 and 2022, erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari allocated N81.80bn for the Presidential Air Fleet’s attraction and overseas trips. The magnitude includes N62.47bn for the cognition and attraction of PAF, N17.29bn for overseas and section trips, and N2.04bn earmarked for different related expenses.
At that time, the Presidency maintained 10 craft from the inception of the Buhari medication successful May 2015.
Some manufacture experts judge that the humongous amounts were chiefly owed to the weakness of the naira to the dollar, since each aviation spending is done successful dollars. Others accidental the Presidency operates a precise ample fleet, a concern that whitethorn proceed to swell the quantum of nationalist funds utilized for the attraction of the fleet.
According to Govspend, a nationalist procurement tracker website, funds were released successful aggregate batches nether President Tinubu, with high-value outflows concentrated betwixt April and August 2024.
The archetypal large disbursement came connected 14 July 2023, erstwhile N846.03m was paid arsenic “presidential aerial fleet forex transit funds”. Just 2 days later, different N674.82m was released. That period alone, the fleet consumed implicit N1.5bn.
By August, the gait of releases intensified. N2bn was disbursed connected 16 August, and further sums of N387.6m and N713.22m were recorded earlier that month. In the 4th fourth of 2023, a notable merchandise of N1.26bn was recorded successful November.
The twelvemonth 2024 besides opened with important disbursements. In March alone, 2 abstracted releases of N1.27bn each were made connected the 7th and 9th of the aforesaid month. This was followed by N5.08bn connected April 23, the azygous largest transaction recorded wrong the 18 months nether review.
On May 8 and May 11, N2.43bn and N1.27bn were disbursed, respectively, with yet different N1.27bn sent retired connected May 25. By August, different flurry of transactions raised caller concerns implicit the fleet’s operating costs. On August 5, the authorities released N1.25bn and N2.21bn, followed by N902.9m and N1.24bn connected the 6th. In total, August unsocial accounted for implicit N5.6bn successful fleet spending.
The payments continued done the last 4th of 2024, albeit successful smaller volumes. These included N160.4m connected August 8, N35m connected September 11, N133m connected September 29, and a bid of smaller disbursements successful December, including N290m, N102.95m, N25.25m, and N8.7m.
The Presidential Air Fleet, managed by the Nigerian Air Force, is liable for the aerial transport needs of the President, Vice President, and elder authorities officials. Despite its strategical role, the outgo of maintaining the fleet has been a long-standing taxable of nationalist scrutiny and criticism, peculiarly successful airy of Nigeria’s fiscal pressures and rising indebtedness work obligations.
Experts speak
A erstwhile elder authoritative astatine Nigerian Airways described the precocious costs associated with maintaining Nigeria’s statesmanlike fleet arsenic a analyzable contented apt to persist unless large structural changes are made.
Frank Oruye, a erstwhile Deputy Director of Engineering astatine the now-defunct nationalist carrier, expressed interest implicit the recurring expenditure connected the statesmanlike aircraft, citing some operational and geopolitical factors.
Speaking successful an interview, Oruye, who oversaw the procurement of craft for erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo’s authoritative use, explained that the fleet’s diverseness successful craft types could importantly thrust up attraction costs.
He emphasised that each benignant of craft requires its ain acceptable of instrumentality and servicing protocols, which complicates logistics and increases expenses.
“For example, the existent fleet includes jets from assorted manufacturers, specified arsenic a Global Jet, a French-made aircraft, a Canadian jet, an American Gulfstream, among others. Before you adjacent see ample craft similar the Boeing 737 oregon the recently acquired Airbus A350 nether President Tinubu, you are already managing a wide scope of craft that each necessitate specialised enactment equipment,” helium stated.
Oruye noted that maintaining specified a varied fleet requires duplication of crushed instrumentality and tools, which whitethorn not beryllium interchangeable.
He added that geopolitical considerations besides origin into the determination to support a divers fleet. “You can’t enactment each your eggs successful 1 basket. If your jets are each from a azygous state and diplomatic relations went sour, it could crushed the full fleet.”
Oruye pointed to broader structural challenges wrong the country. “Even if you privation to bash attraction internally, you volition inactive request to import astir of the equipment. That is the world of being a user federation with constricted manufacturing capacity.
Aviation adept and retired subject officer, Group Capt John Ojukutu, criticised the size of Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet, calling for a important simplification successful the fig of craft operated by the presidency. He argued that the precocious outgo of maintaining the fleet whitethorn besides beryllium mostly owed to its size, which helium described arsenic excessive and unnecessary.
He suggested that the president and vice president should not person much than 4 craft astatine their disposal. “How galore radical are really utilizing these aircraft, and wherever are they going? Are they assigning 1 craft to each authoritative successful the presidency?”
He recalled that erstwhile President Buhari erstwhile projected reducing the statesmanlike fleet from 10 craft to three, a determination Ojukutu believes was sensible and overdue.
Comparing the usage of authorities craft to commercialized airlines, Ojukutu stated, “These planes are not flying similar Air Peace oregon different commercialized operators. So however often are they being utilized to adjacent warrant regular dense attraction similar C-checks?”
He besides questioned the frequence of large attraction procedures connected the fleet, noting that commercialized airlines lone behaviour specified checks aft important formation hours. “Are each these craft genuinely owed for C-checks each year?” helium asked.
In his view, helium enjoined the presidency to run nary much than 4 aircraft, with the National Assembly perchance sharing 2 more. “10 craft successful the statesmanlike fleet is excessively galore for a state similar Nigeria,” helium insisted.
The station Nigeria’s Presidential jets gulp N26.38bn successful 18 months nether Tinubu archetypal appeared connected Nigeria Stories.
