PDP, Labour Congress Criticize FG’s N55bn Allocation for Presidential Fleet Maintenance

The PDP and Labour Congress have opposed the Federal Government’s decision to allocate N55 billion for maintaining the presidential fleet, citing economic concerns.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Congress have expressed their disapproval of the proposed ₦55.5 billion allocation for maintaining the presidential fleet as outlined in the 2025 Appropriation Bill submitted to the National Assembly.

The budget details the expenses for completely overhauling three aircraft engines, as well as costs associated with fueling, fumigation, air navigation, cleaning, and other maintenance services for the fleet.

In a statement, the PDP characterized the allocation as “excessive and unjustifiable,” particularly in light of the nation’s current economic challenges.

In the same vein, the Labour Congress demanded a reassessment of these expenditures, pressing the government to prioritize citizen welfare and essential infrastructure above luxury spending.

The aviation ministry’s budget for 2025 is set at N105,953,496,365.

Our correspondent analyzed the budget, revealing that the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development receives N71,123,368,069. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency is allocated N9,819,554,829 and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology in Zaria is set to receive N7,975,,364,,319

Other entities include the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, which received N10,035,209,148 in funding, and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency with an allocation of N7,000,000.

At the same time, The PUNCH reported that a minimum of N19.43 billion was expended on maintaining and operating the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to September 2024.

Our correspondent’s review of GovSpend, a civic technology platform that monitors and analyzes the Federal Government’s expenditures, revealed that payments in 2024 totaled N13.55 billion. This figure represents 66 percent of the year’s allocated budget for the fleet.

The budget, which has not yet been approved, allocated N8.65 trillion for repairing air navigational equipment and reserved N5.51 billion for an engine overhaul on one of the aircraft in the presidential fleet with registration number 5N-FGW.

The document also mentioned that an additional two engines would be refurbished for a total cost of N3,132,336.65.

The government also intends to allocate N8,646,336,653 for air navigational equipment. Additionally, they have proposed spending N1,550,000,000 on aircraft fuel costs in 2025 and another N1,255,700,000 for the maintenance of aircraft within the presidential fleet.

Additionally, N149,000,000 was allocated for security operations (overhead), and an extra N7,500,000 was designated for cleaning and fumigation services of the presidential fleet.

An amount of N311,145,300 was allocated for aircraft insurance premiums.

It is recognized that this substantial amount might be managed by foreign insurance companies like those in the United States and the United Kingdom, as local insurers lack the capacity to cover aircraft, especially airbuses.

In the meantime, local insurance companies sometimes act as “middlemen” between the presidency and their foreign counterparts.

Opposition groups and Nigerians respond

When our correspondent reached out to Kamorudeen Ajisafe, the South-West chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, he inquired whether the presidency was considering purchasing another aircraft.

However, he promised to get back but hadn’t done so by the time of publication.

Expressing his frustration about the situation, Abayomi Arabambi, the factional National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, labeled it as a cruel and unjustifiable decision. He criticized spending such an amount on the presidential fleet as misguided. With millions of Nigerians striving to survive financially, he found it shocking and deeply insulting that their government would allocate so much money towards luxury aircraft.

He mentioned that the presidential air fleet already includes several aircraft, such as a newly acquired Airbus A330 costing over $100 million.

The government’s spending patterns clearly demonstrate its lack of commitment to reducing poverty and inequality.

Debo Adeniran, the executive chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, observed that “the actions of this administration contradict our expectations… it has become enamored with wastefulness.”

The government must reconsider its priorities and prioritize the needs of its citizens. The suggested spending on presidential jets is a national embarrassment, and Nigerians should demand more from their leaders. As you mentioned, it’s perplexing that those criticizing governmental extravagance often support the same politicians in subsequent elections. This vicious cycle requires disruption.

Engineer Olakunle Aina expressed his disappointment upon learning that such significant amounts of money are allocated for travel, remarking that these funds are excessively large just for appearances.

I’m not an aerospace engineer, but I believe the costs wouldn’t be so exorbitant if our leaders were committed to proper management and understood the hardships people are facing. However, they’re out of touch because they aren’t experiencing these struggles themselves; affluence seems to be their main priority. To me, allocating such a significant amount of money to the presidential fleet is incredibly insensitive.

“It can be more cost-effective with better allocation of resources; our leaders need to reflect, and the time for action is now.”

Mrs. Aina, a trader, mentioned she couldn’t comprehend the significance of such a large sum in improving Nigeria and subtly noted that her largest savings amounted to N150,000.

“The most I ever saved was N150,000 over an entire year just to buy a simple koiki. So when you mention that some leaders plan to spend N55 billion on air travel, it deeply unsettles me; I’m even tempted to curse them.”