President Buhari To Upgrade Presidential Aircraft With N1.5 Billion In 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari is set to spend N1.492 billion on the upgrading of some of the aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet in 2020.

This is contained in the details of the 2020 Appropriation Bill that was presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

In a related development, another N200.994 million has been set aside for the purpose of engine overhaul in the Presidential fleet next year.

Details of the PAF’s budget are captured under the budget of the Office of the National Security Adviser.  The breakdown is as follows:

• N792 million will be spent on “mandatory upgrade and installation of live TV and Internet service on BBJ (5N-FGT).”
• N50 million will be spent on “compliance with mandatory upgrade and installation of Internet service on G550 (5N-FGW).”
• N650 million is being proposed to be spent on “compliance with mandatory upgrades on PAF aircraft.”

Further details of the budget revealed that N250 million will be spent on aviation fuel during the year. The sum is part of the N467.86 million budgeted for fuel and lubricants (general) for 2020.

The budget also includes fueling expenses. The sum of N115.86 million was budgeted for motor vehicle fuel; N70 million for plant/generator fuel; N30.2 million for other transport equipment fuel; while N1.8 million was budgeted for cooking gas/fuel.

However, the PAF intends to refund N1.22 billion to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria for asset acquisition.

Further breakdown of the budget is revealed below:

The construction of armoury is expected to gulp N120 million while N178.273 million will be spent on the renovation of the HQ 011 PAF complex and aircraft hangar.

Fire fighting vehicle will cost N90 million during the year while N89.413 million will be spent on the purchase of six pieces of FIDO X3 Military Grade Scanners.

KanyiDaily recalls that in 2016, President Buhari had promised to sale off two of the 10 aircraft in the presidential air fleet in a bid to raise money for Nigeria and as a means of cutting waste of resources expended on plane maintenance.