Budget cuts have left the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) bemoaning the underfunding of its missions.
On Thursday, while conducting an oversight visit to the PAF’s base, Commandant Abubakar Abdulahi informed members of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence of this.
The fleet’s budgetary allotments have not been enough to maintain the aircraft, according to the commandant, who was represented by Fleet Operational Officer Ahmed Dari.
In addition to pointing out that the fleet owes service providers money, he said that as of December 2021, only N12.5 billion of the N18.7 billion total budget that was filed in 2021 had been authorized in the Appropriations Act.
Dari added that in 2022, the fleet proposed the sum of N19.4 billion, but N12.4 billion was finally approved.
“Permit me to also state that most of these debts are owned by service providers overseas. Considering that over 85 percent of the fleet expenditure is forex, the actual budget figure in dollars is further diminished,” he said.
The Chairman of the Committee, Sha’aban Sharada assured the fleet that the lawmakers would consider their challenges.