Foreign Creditors May Impound Presidential Jets Over Accumulated Debts
LAGOS NOVEMBER 27TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet are at the risk of being impounded by foreign creditors, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
Findings indicated that the PAF was indebted to several service providers for various upgrades carried out on the 10 aircraft in the fleet to meet the required airworthiness.
The PAF provides secure airlift to the President, the Vice-President, their immediate families and other top government officials.
However, due to inadequate funding, it was gathered that some installations on the aircraft had again been postponed to 2023.
The PAF Commander, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Abdullahi, who stated these in his budget defence presentation at the National Assembly, also complained that only N1.5bn was allocated for the maintenance of the aircraft out of the proposed N4.5bn.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the budgetary allocation to the PAF had risen by 121 per cent in eight years.
Findings indicate that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had since 2016 allocated N81.80bn for the PAF maintenance and foreign trips.
The amount includes N62.47bn for the operation and maintenance of the PAF, N17.29bn for foreign and local trips, and N2.04bn earmarked for other related expenses.
The Presidency has maintained 10 aircraft since the inception of the Buhari regime in May 2015.
They are Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800 or NAF 001), one Gulfstream G550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X, one Hawker Siddeley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters and two AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters.
Though Buhari promised to reduce the size of the fleet as part of his pledge to cut the cost of governance, checks revealed that his regime had failed to live up to this promise.
However, the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd), delivered the two AgustaWestland AW101 VIP helicopters in the presidential fleet to the Air Force.
But addressing the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence during the budget defence session, the fleet commander explained that the average age of the PAF aircraft was 11 years and in aviation, the cost of maintenance increases proportionally with the age of the aircraft.
Based on the fleet’s experience, Abdullahi explained that the cost of maintaining each aircraft was between $1.5m and $4.5m, depending on the level of maintenance due.
The fleet commander disclosed that some mandatory upgrades were carried out on credit based on the fleet’s longstanding relationships with the maintenance companies, while others have been moved to the 2023 budget.
He stated, “This committee may wish to note that the quality of aircraft maintenance conducted is directly proportional to flight safety and its critical importance cannot be emphasized.
“The fleet is mindful of the meagre financial resources in the face of competing national demands. Thus, be assured that this budget is on a need-only basis. Nonetheless, if the fleet is to meet up with its statutory obligation, there will be a need for the budget appropriation to be reviewed upward to meet PAF’s requirements.”
Aviation experts react
Commenting on the PAF’s indebtedness to foreign service providers, the Chief Executive Officer, Top Brass Aviation, Captain Roland Iyayi, said the presidential jets were seen as sovereign entities of Nigeria, noting that it would be difficult to seize them.
“I don’t know if that will be easy enough; if it was another asset of Nigeria, it is different, but a presidential jet; it’s like saying a country wants to seize the United States President’s aircraft over debt. It is considered an extension of the sovereignty of the state; so, that may not be as easy as it sounds,” he stated
Similarly, the Secretary-General Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, said it would be difficult to seize the presidential jets because they were seen as diplomatic property.
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He, however, noted that those who maintained the aircraft could refuse to release them if they were not paid for services rendered.
The aviation expert stated, “Aside that, you will need a top government official or the approval of the court where the aircraft has landed to remove the diplomatic immunity.
“In such a case, the government of the country where the aircraft has landed will be involved before a judgment can be taken. For a company to do that against Nigeria, it will also need the judgment of that country where the aircraft is. This cannot happen when the President or any government official is on a visit to another country. It can only happen when the aircraft is going for maintenance.”
Lawmaker reacts
The Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Adejoro Adeogun, blamed the reduction in the PAF budget on the Federal Government’s envelope budgetary system, inflation, devaluation of the naira and the forex crisis.
Adeogun noted that most of the items needed to run the aviation business, especially aircraft, were being imported.
“If everything they are buying is in naira, it would have been easier. But they buy things in dollars. And the (exchange) rates are not stable. You can have 10 aircraft, then reduce it to five; it does not simply mean that your cost will reduce, because the cost of maintenance of the aircraft may keep increasing,” he said.
Sharada also decried the reduction of the budget proposed by the intelligence community under the envelope budgeting system.
He said, “It is instructive to note that the total budget of the Intelligence community was slightly reduced from N212,764,192,844 in 2022 to N195,018,115,836 in 2023. This is as a result of economic challenges primarily caused by global economic instability and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Despite the fact that this committee had appealed to the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to consider the removal of the agencies under the intelligence community from the envelope budgeting system to strengthen their operational capacity, which can only be guaranteed through adequate funding, this committee will require the agencies to make a presentation of the 2023 estimates for further legislative action.
“This methodology will also require analytical presentation of the status of implementation of the previous budget to justify the sustenance of the coming allocation, which, in reality, does not call for any significant modification.
“In this regard, it is deserving of appreciating the Federal Government, through its numerous security and intelligence agencies, in response to serious national security challenges such as kidnappings, banditry, terrorism, secession and border crimes.
“We are calling on you to put more efforts at ensuring a secured Nigeria, especially before, during and after the forthcoming elections. The role of the government in ensuring the corporate unity of Nigeria and sustainable internal security, especially in recent times, cannot be overemphasized.”
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Posted by News Rangers
on Nov 27 2022. Filed under National.
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