‎Buhari Spent N2.1Billion on Presidential Fleet in 6 months

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‎Buhari Spent N2.1Billion on Presidential Fleet in 6 months

By Correspondent

The maintenance of the Presidential Fleet of the Nigerian government has gulped over N2.1billion in six months. This was contained in a press release by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), Mallam Shehu Garba.The press release was in response to a newspaper publication alleging that the presidency has spent over N6billion on maintenance of the presidential fleet in six months.While asserting that the newspaper story is “fictitious”, the presidential spokesman noted that the amount spent so far was for the repayment of old debts and payment of salaries.The presidential media assistant also debunked the report of the newspaper that the presidential fleet has 14 aircraft. He pegged the number of the fleet to 10.The statement by the spokesperson stated that: “The government is focused on solving the many major issues our country faces in the areas of the economy, corruption and security. Yet almost every week, the Presidency has to also deal with the distractions which do nothing but distract from the task of government.”“The sum of N2.3 billion was released to the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation between May and November 2015. This includes releases for personnel cost, overhead and capital expenditure out of the sum of N5,190,381,386.00 appropriated for PAF on the 2015 budget.”“The documents also showed that the sum of N2,127,103,086.66 had so far been expended, leaving a balance of N172,568,912.34 from the amount released.”“However, the sum of N149,062,791.12 was transferred from the PAG’s operation account to the Treasury Single Account, following the President’s recent directive.”The statement continued: “The sum of N23,801,122.17 remains unutilised out of the funds so far released. During the period 31 May 2015 till date, the Fleet expended the sum of N1,358,910,962.75 to settle outstanding liabilities carried over from last year till May 2015. Furthermore, the sum of N500 million was refunded to the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA for financial support rendered to the Fleet prior to release of funds from the OAGF. “”Thus, the Fleet expended the sum of N449,081,037.25 within the last months comprising N98,500,218.00 for operations, N165,373,176.91 on training and N85,500,116.75 on personnel medicals and overhead. Additionally, the sum of N99,715,493.51 was expended on aircraft maintenance, spares, and subscription services required for operations.”“Any of these documents could have been made available had the newspaper reached out to me or to any one of my colleagues. The damage to the image of government and the good management of the Presidential Air Fleet could have been avoided.”

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