The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is still awaiting the delivery of 15 specialized aircraft made up 12 for combat and three additional aircraft for the training of its personnel, three years after the payment of $50,412,698.4 or N6,049,523,808 to a Chinese firm.
Oluseyi Petirin, Air Marshal and Chief of Air Staff, explained that the contract for the supply of the aircraft was signed in 2005 with part payment already made by the Federal Government.
He stated this yesterday during the 2008 budget defence before the House Committee on Air Force headed by Halims Agoda.
According to Petirin, the contract sum was $212 million at the exchange rate of N120 out of which the sum of $50.4 million had been paid.
Stressing the importance of the aircraft to the repositioning of the air force, Petirin explained that the hierarchy of the force had decided that the chunk of this year’s budget would be devoted to the procurement of the specialised aircraft and repair of the grounded ones in various air force bases in the country.
On the choice of a Chinese company to supply the aircraft, the chief of air staff said that the company had agreed to supply the aircraft before full payment is made.
“We have decided to take a few projects to be implemented in this year in view of the experience in recent times when so many projects are proposed and their eventual execution always problematic. It is only natural that we embark on projects that can be implemented for an efficiency-oriented force,” he said before they went into close door meeting.
Petirin submitted a budget proposal of N53.8 billion in the 2009 appropriation, in its capital, personel and recurrent expenditure inclusive of the balance of N5 billion contract sum for the procurement of the aircraft.
He also informed the committee that about N270 million was used for periodic maintenance of two engines and complete overhaul of its 17 Aircraft by DANA Aviation Company Nigeria, based in Kaduna, saying the Air force wants to domesticate its operations and maintenance.
He explained that DANA was the only company in Nigeria that can undertake intensive maintenance work on our aircrafts as the original manufacture, Donnier of Germany had been liquidated and bought over by a Swiss aviation company.
Reacting, Halims Agoda, chairman of the committee, condemned the colossus sum of money used by the air force to repair grounded aircraft, noting that such amount of money can be used for provision of other relevant infrastructure in the air force.
He declared that the liquidationof the company that manufactured the operational aircraft currently being used by the air force was an indication that spare parts for the aircraft may no longer be available for procurement and that will threaten the maintenance of affected aircraft.