In Nigeria: Maintenance of Presidential Fleet has Cost FG N5bn in 15 Months – Punch

The Federal Government has spent a whopping N5bn on the 10-aircraft Presidential Air Fleet in the last 15 months, Punch reports.

According to the document, the sum of N2.3bn was released for PAF by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation between May and November 2015 out of the N5.19bn appropriated to cover personnel costs, overheads and capital expenditures.

The Presidency said N99.715m was spent on aircraft maintenance, spares and subscription services; N98.5m was spent on operations, N165.373m on training and N85.5m on personnel medicals and overheads.

Furthermore, 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. [post_ads]

However, Punch reports that 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 going by standard aviation costs as the PAF is the second largest airline in the country with a combined estimated value of $347.4m (N106.13bn), coming after Arik Air which has 23 aircraft in its fleet.

Airline chief executives and industry experts posit that airlines spend between 15 and 20 per cent of the cost of an aircraft on its operation yearly.

Hence, 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, factoring in the ravages of inflation.

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.

“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,” he said. [post_ads]

A few weeks after his inauguration, Buhari had reportedly ordered the immediate disposal of some of the planes in the PAF, but his Special Assistant on Media, Garba Shehu, later denied knowledge of such directive.
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.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Garba Shehu hinted that there was a committee already deliberating on trimming the presidential fleet.

“There is a government committee already in place, working to reduce the number of aircraft in the presidential fleet,” Shehu said on Twitter.