Despite the biting economic recession in the
country, the Federal Government has spent the sum of N5bn on the 10-aicraft
Presidential Air Fleet in the last 15 months, document obtained exclusively
from the Presidency by Saturday punch has revealed.
According to the document, the Presidency put the
amount of money so far released for the Presidential Air Fleet since the
inception of the current administration in May 2015 till date in the region of
N5bn.
The breakdown of the sum showed that N2.3bn was
released for PAF by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation between
May and November 2015.
That figure included releases for personnel costs, overheads and capital
expenditures; out of the N5.19bn appropriated for PAF in the 2015 budget.
Of the sum, the Presidency said N99.715m was
spent on aircraft maintenance, spares and subscription services.
The sum of N98.5m was also spent on operations;
N165.373m on training and N85.5m on personnel medicals and overheads.
During the period, the document claimed that PAF
spent N1.350bn to settle outstanding liabilities carried over from 2014 while
N500m was refunded to the NSA for financial support rendered for the
maintenance of the Fleet prior to release of funds.
According to findings from aviation experts,
however, the Federal Government may have spent about N19.9bn on the 10-aircraft
PAF in the last 15 months of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The large-size PAF inherited from the former
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is the second largest airline in
the country, coming after Arik Air which has 23 aircraft in its fleet.
According to experts’ estimated projections of
expenses made in line with the cost of running and maintaining airplanes, about
$65.13m (N19.9bn), using the official exchange rate of N305.5 per dollar, may
have been spent on the 10-aicraft presidential fleet between May 29, 2015 and
August 29, 2016.
According to the Presidency, the PAF contains 10
aircraft. These are: Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800 or AirForce One), one
Gulfstream 550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X, one Hawker
Sidley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters and two AgustaWestland AW
101 helicopters. Each of the two Falcon 7X jets were purchased in 2010 by the
Federal Government for $51.1m, while the Gulfstream 550 costs $53.3m, a former
Minister of Information, the late Pro. Dora Akunyili, had said.
The price of other aircraft in the fleets could
not be ascertained. But according to Wikipedia, price.wescrawler. com and
airline executives, the factory price of other aircraft in the fleet are:
Boeing Business Jet, $59m; HS 4000, $22.9m; AgustaWestland 139, $12m; and
AgusatWestland 101, $21m.
This brings a combined estimated value of
Nigeria’s PAF to $347.4m (N106.13bn).
According to airline chief executives and
industry experts, airlines spend between 15 and 20 per cent of the cost of an
aircraft on its operation yearly.
They explained that averagely, a little less than
one-fifth of the cost of the plane is spent every year on insurance, flight and
cabin crew, maintenance, fuelling, catering and training.
Using a conservative percentage of 15 per cent,
it means that about $52.11m (N15.92bn) must have been spent on the presidential
fleet by May 29, 2016.
A quarter of the annual maintenance cost ($52.11
or N15.92bn) would also have been spent to maintain the 10-aircraft in the
presidential fleet in three months after May 29, if the Federal Government
followed experts’ recommendation on maintenance of its air fleet.
This means that between June and August this
year, an additional $13.02m (N3.98bn) would have been spent in principle to
maintain the 10-aicraft presidential fleet.
It means, all things being equal, between May 29,
2015 and August 29, 2016 (15 months), the Presidency would have spent $65.13m
(N19.9bn) to maintain the 10-aicraft presidential fleet.
Though the amount ought to have been N12.8bn, the
depreciation of the naira from 197/dollar to 305.5/dollar at the official
interbank market raised the amount to N19.9bn. This indicates an increase of 45
per cent.
Aviation experts told Saturday PUNCH
that depreciation in naira value had made the cost of maintaining airplanes to
go up astronomically.
This, they argued, was because airline and
aircraft maintenance expenses were denominated in dollars.
They therefore urged the President o reduce the
size of the PAF as soon as possible.
The General Secretary, Aviation Round Table, an
industry pressure group, Group Captain John Ojikutu, said Buhari needed to
reduce the PAF and sell aircraft belonging to most of the Ministries,
Departments and Agencies.
He said, “It is high time the Presidency reduced
the number of aircraft in that fleet. We can’t be spending our scarce forex to
maintain a large fleet of 10 aircraft.”
A few weeks after his inauguration, Buhari had
reportedly ordered the immediate disposal of some of the planes in the PAF.
However, the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, later denied knowledge of such
directive.
“The story of the order for the sale of aircraft
in the Presidential Fleet, about which so much interest is being expressed, is
not known to us,” Shehu had said.
Other aviation experts and Nigerians had called
on the President to reduce the fleet.
A former Assistant General Secretary, Airline
Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Muhammed Tukur, said the aircraft could be sold to
both airline operators and private individuals who could use them for
commercial purposes.
He said that this could generate more revenue and
create jobs.
Nigeria happens to be one of the few countries
with a large PAF.
Reacting to the development, Chairman, Coalition
Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said spending a whopping N5bn on
maintenance of 10 aircraft at a time when many states “cannot pay salaries and
dozens of families going hungry across most parts of the country is insensitive
and a hallmark of an anti-people regime.”
While condemning the All Progressives Party-led
Federal Government for engaging in the same ‘sins’ it accused the ousted
Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for, Adeniran said the high level of waste n the part of the government in the face of hunger wasn’t what Nigerians
yearned for while electing Buhari.
He said, “Spending that type of money on maintenance
of aircraft is not the best at this time. It is profligacy, it is unnecessary
and smacks of insensitivity on the part of the regime that is supposed to
effect positive change in the lives of the people.
“A few days ago the Federal Government launched
the ‘Change begins with me’ campaign but I disagree with the government that
because it is like shifting the goalpost to Nigerians. This administration has
not shown us that it has good plans. All the policies that have been
implemented so far – both fiscal and monetary – are anti-people. This is not
the type of government that we yearned for.
“They criticised Goodluck Jonathan of keeping a
large fleet of aircraft but they are also doing the same thing. I think Buhari
is alone in his anti-corruption fight because most of his cabinet members have
not been able to detach themselves from the lifestyle of the past regime.
A former Governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji
Balarabe Musa, said President Buhari administration “is as wasteful as the
administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.”
He also asked the President to sell some of the
jets in order to minimise wastage.“They should sell off some of the jets in
order to reduce wastage of our economic resources and also to demonstrate the
change they are talking about,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Senior Special Assistant
on Media and Publicity to the President, Presidential Garba Shehu, hinted that
there was a committee already deliberating on trimming the presidential fleet.
He made the revelation in a reaction to a tweet
by blogger, Japheth Omojuwa, who asked why the Presidency has yet to reduce the
10 aircraft on its fleet.
“There is a government committee already in
place, working to reduce the number of aircraft in the presidential fleet,” Shehu
said. -Punch
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