Newly acquired presidential aircraft, Airbus A330-200, with registration number, 5N-FGA, is 15 years old, investigation has revealed.
Also, Nigeria is the third owner of the same aircraft with test registration number, F-WWKR, and Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN), 1053, reports Daily Independent.
Information gathered by our correspondent indicates that the federal government had taken delivery of the aircraft on Sunday from Toulouse, France, its production site.
It was gathered that the controversial aircraft was manufactured in November 2009 with the registration number, VP-CAC, for Midroc Aviation, based in Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International, Saudi Arabia. AMAC Aerospace is a Switzerland based company, which operated the aircraft for three years before it was acquired by the Nigerian government recently and upgraded to the current status.
The federal government, according to investigation, took delivery of the aircraft on Sunday, August 18, 2024 with the registration number, 5N-FGA and HEX CODE, 06430C, from a factory in France.
Though the government has kept mute about the cost of the aircraft, information gathered by our correspondent indicated that the government acquired the airplane at the cost of $100 million and retrofitted with state-of-the-art gadgets with another $50 million.
The aircraft was with the configuration, VIP; engines, 2xRR and HEX CODE, 4241AC.The price of a brand new A330- 200 aircraft is $238.5 million, while A330-300 is priced at $264.2 million and A330-200F costs $241.7 million to acquire.
The aircraft was a subject of legal tussle between Nigeria and Ogun State on one hand and a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, over a contractual issue with the state government in 2007.
The Nigerian government had earlier in the year lamented about the high cost of maintaining its 22 years old Boeing 737.
The government had said that the jet, which was acquired during the time of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was costing a huge sum of money to maintain due to its age.
A source close to the presidency confided in our correspondent that the federal government spent over $4.5 million for the jet’s maintenance in 2023, while more money would be expended on the equipment in 2024.
In a bid to save cost in the long run, experts in the Nigerian aviation industry had said it was necessary for the government to acquire a modern jet, which would consume less fuel for the president’s movement, but cautioned that it should not be an opportunity to swindle the country.
The Saudi Arabian aviation company operated the aircraft for 12 years before it was acquired by AMAC Aerospace in April 2021 with the same registration number, configuration and engines.
A month to the expiration of the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the aircraft was sent for a comprehensive maintenance ahead of the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The federal government had earmarked N12.7 billion for the maintenance of the presidential air fleet in the 2023 supplementary budget.
The figure was in the recurrent expenditure of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) with a total budget of N29.7 billion.
Speaking on the issue, Engr. Femi Adeniji, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigame Aircraft Consultancy Incorporation, Florida, United States of America (U.S.A.), said that the older an aircraft is, the more expensive it is to maintain.
Adeniji also explained that this is largely dependent on how frequently the aircraft is maintained by the user.
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