The recent trips of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in charter flights have heightened safety concerns about aircraft in the Nigerian presidential fleet, DAILY NIGERIAN gathered.
President Tinubu’s Boeing 737 aircraft reportedly developed a fault, forcing the president to travel to Saudi Arabia on a charter flight at the weekend for the World Economic Forum in Riyadh from the Netherlands.
Peoples Gazette reported that the vice president also resorted to flying commercial flight after his dedicated Gulfstream G550, which was sent to relieve the president’s faulty Boeing 737 aircraft, also developed faults.
According to the newspaper, Mr Tinubu had to charter a jet to Saudi Arabia to avoid missing the two-day event.
On Monday, Mr Shettima also arrived in Nairobi to represent Mr Tinubu at the International Development Association, IDA21 Heads of State Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
In a video obtained by DAILY NIGERIAN, Mr Shettima was seen disembarking from a commercial charter plane early Monday.
In February, some stakeholders raised alarm over the humongous cost of maintenance of the presidential aircraft, Air Force 01.
According to the Daily Trust report, the presidential aircraft gulped billions of naira for scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance.
A senior official familiar with the maintenance of the fleet said the routine maintenance and the purchase of parts for the aircraft had been guzzling huge amounts of money.
While buttressing his point, the source said the erstwhile Presidential Air Fleet Commandeer, AVM AA Yaro, had earlier recommended decommissioning of the fleet.
It was gathered that the Air Force 001 is a 737 Boeing Business Jet bought during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the cost of $43m.
“Boeing began the production of the BBJ in 1998, and it initially cost $36m for the unfinished aircraft. It now sells for $41m for a used one and $71m for a brand new aircraft,” he said.
Sources privy to the operation of the presidential fleet confirmed that the aircraft had amassed over $5m in maintenance bills, constituting nearly half of the over $10m liabilities inherited at the presidential fleet.
“Due to the age of the aircraft, maintenance cost has increased in recent times, and the amount of money spent on maintenance is huge. I am wondering how long it would take to continue to spend this much on maintenance when it could have been disposed of and a new one purchased,” one of the sources said.
While the age of an aircraft does not matter in terms of its performance, it was gathered that the maintenance cost increases, unlike newer and more modern aircraft.
Speaking on the issue, the General Secretary, Society of Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineers, SLAMEN, Sheri Kyari, advised that purchasing a new one would be better to reduce the maintenance cost.
Mr Kyari said, “It is better for the government to buy a new one. How much is a brand new aircraft? They should be able to get something much better from Boeing. For me, Boeing is still the way to go.”
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