NIGERIA BUYS N60.53 BILLION PRESIDENTIAL JETS; Spends N9.08bn to operate fleet annually

•Photo shows President Jonathan disembarking from one of the presidential jets.

Nigeria has spent a princely sum of about N60.53 billion (about $390.5 million) to assemble one of the world’s largest presidential fleets, according to a report in one of the country’s largest circulating dailies. The report, published this morning in The Punch, said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s 10-aircraft Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) includes “two Falcon 7X jets, two Falcon 900 jets, a Gulfstream 550, one Boeing 737 BBJ (Nigerian Air Force 001 or Eagle One), and a Gulfstream IVSP. Others are one Gulfstream V, Cessna Citation 2 aircraft and Hawker Siddley 125-800 jet.
“Each of the Falcon 7X jets was purchased in 2010 at a cost of $51.1m, while the Gulfstream 550 costs $53.3m.
“The factory price of the other aircraft in the fleet could not be obtained online. However, airline CEOs put the average price of the Falcon 900 at $35m; Gulfstream IVSP, $40m; Gulfstream V, $45m; Boeing 737 BBJ, $58m; Cessna Citation, $7m; and Hawker Siddley 125-800, $15m.”
On the cost of operating the fleet, the newspaper said: “Going by the fact that at least 15 per cent of this amount is spent annually on operating the PAF, it means about $58.57m (N9.08bn) is being spent annually on running the planes in the Nigerian PAF.”
Nigeria, according to the report, “happens to be one of the few countries in the world with a large PAF.”
Source News Express