The Nigerian Presidency is set to sell off three of its jets in the Presidential Air Fleet.
This proposition is part of the cost-saving measures introduced by the Tinubu administration.
The Nigerian Air Force maintains and is the primary custodian of the air fleet in which the president flies on, as well as other state and foreign dignitaries.
The Presidential fleet currently has 10 aircraft, including six jets and four helicopters, which would now be reduced to seven if the proposal is successful.
Amongst the aircraft, the BBJ 737 is the Nigerian Air Force One, which is primarily used by the President and is designed to serve as an office and a residential quarter on air to enable the president to function effectively during his trip.
The President also uses one of the helicopters for shuttles during his journeys around the country.
Recall that in October 2016, a Dassault Falcon 7x executive jet and a Beechcraft Hawker 4000 business jet were put up for sale, although the proposed sale didn’t materialize.
The preferred bidders, who initially agreed to pay $24 million for the two aircraft, later reduced their offer to $11 million, which the Muhammadu Buhari government rejected.
Not less than N80 billion has been budgeted for the PAF as maintenance cost, as follows: 2016 (N3.65 billion), 2017 (N4.37 billion), 2018 (N7.26 billion), 2019 (N7.30 billion), 2020 (N6.79 billion), 2021 (N12.55 billion), 2022 (N12.48 billion), and in 2023, about N25.7 billion, made up of N13 billion in the budget and N12.7 billion in the 2023 Supplementary budget.
Chinedum Anayo