Members of the house of Reps has charged the federal government to immediately make provisions of new planes for both the president and hi8s vice, the report on this came fro the office of the house committee on national security and intelligence and the report has been forwarded to the presidency for immediate action.
The recommendation followed a technical subcommittee hearing which was on the conditions and worthiness of the presidential air craft, the report read “The committee is of strong and well informed opinion that considering the fragile structure of the Nigerian federation and recognizing the consequences of any foreseen or unforeseen mishap that may arise as a result of technical/operational inadequacy of the presidential air fleet, it is in the best interest of the country to procure two additional aircraft as recommended.”
The presidential fleet has six aircraft as reported, a Boeing 737, a Gulfstream G550, a Gulfstream GV, two Falcon 7Xs, and a Challenger CL605. but the committee reported that two of the six aircraft have been damaged and unserviceable as of when the hearing took place.
Additionally, the presidential fleet has two helicopters, two Agusta 139s and four Agusta 189s. The commitee stated that the two Agusta 139s are not in a functional at the moment, giving citations from Air vice Marshal, Olayinka Oyesola, who is the current commander of the presidential air fleet.
According to the committee, the Boeing 737 is also unusable at the moment and is currently going through repairs.But the Vice president’s thirteen year old Gulfstream is a perfect condition and also very functional.
Additionally, the 23 years old Gulfstream of the president is also not in use at the moment, though the two falcon 7xs can be repaired but they other is damaged beyond repair.
The 12-year-old, functional Challenger CL605 still functions well. The Agusta 139 helicopters are 17 and 18 years old, respectively, and are deemed unserviceable.
The committee stated in its recommendations that maintaining older aircraft comes at a considerable expense, which increases fleet operating costs and prolongs aircraft downtime.
The panel concluded the wisest course of action is to purchase new airplanes for the nation’s top officials.
By selling some of the aircraft, former President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged to drastically cut the fleet’s size. But that was not the case.
Rather, it is said that between 2016 and 2020, the government raised the fleet’s operating expenses by 190%.
The government said that by 2022, it was investing between $1.5 million and $4.5 million on the upkeep of each aircraft.
