Nigeria: FG Allocates N55bn for Presidential Fleet Maintenance in 2025 Budget, While Citizens Suffer in Poverty

According to a report by Punch, the Federal Government has allocated over N55 billion in the 2025 Appropriation Bill for the maintenance of the presidential fleet.

The allocation, which includes costs for engine overhauls, fueling, fumigation, air navigation, cleaning, and other maintenance services, is part of the proposed budget submitted to the National Assembly for approval.

N55.5 billion is said to cover the overhaul of three aircraft engines in the presidential fleet, alongside other operational expenses. This proposal follows expenditures of N19.43 billion incurred between July 2023 and September 2024 for maintaining and operating the fleet.

Findings on GovSpend by Punch reveal that N13.55 billion—about 66% of the allocation for the presidential fleet—was disbursed in 2024 alone.

The 2025 budget sets aside N5.51 billion for the engine overhaul of one aircraft with the registration number 5N-FGW, while N3.13 million has been earmarked for two other engine overhauls.

Further analysis of the proposed spending shows that N8.64 billion will go toward the repair of air navigational equipment, while N1.55 billion has been allocated for aircraft fuel costs.

Additionally, N1.26 billion is proposed for general maintenance of the fleet, N149 million for security operations, and N7.5 million for cleaning and fumigation services.

Insurance premiums for the aircraft amount to N311.14 million, which foreign companies will likely handle, as local insurers cannot cover high-value airbuses in the presidential fleet, Punch stated.

The budget document also outlines allocations across the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, totalling N105.95 billion. N71.12 billion is designated for the Ministry, while N9.82 billion is allocated to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency.

Other allocations include N7.98 billion for the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria; N10.03 billion for the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau; and N7 billion for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.

Recall that in 2024, Nigeria acquired a presidential aircraft, an Airbus A330-200 with registration number 5N-FGA, reported to have been manufactured 15 years ago, in November 2009.

The federal government of Nigeria took delivery of the aircraft on Sunday, August 18, 2024, from its production site in Toulouse, France, after earlier denials of buying the aircraft.

Before the final announcement of the aircraft acquisition, Senate President Godswill Akpabio had announced that the National Assembly would approve taxpayers’ money to buy a presidential jet if President Bola Tinubu asked for it.

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