• The General Secretary of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Olumide Ohunayo, has urged President Bola Tinubu to suspend plans for acquiring a new presidential aircraft
• The aviation expert advised Tinubu to conduct an in-depth audit and investigation into the finances allocated for maintaining the current fleet
• Ohunayo compared the Nigerian presidential aircraft to those of other countries, pointing out that age alone should not determine their usefulness

FCT, Abuja – An aviation expert has urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate an in-depth audit and investigation into the finances allocated for the maintenance of the presidential fleet.

The call is coming on the heels of the recent move by the national assembly supported by the presidency to acquire a new presidential fleet for the current administration.

Aviation expert, Olumide Ohunayo advises president Bola Tinubu on issues on presidential fleet
Photo credit: Sean Gallup/@oluohunayoSource: UGC

Speaking exclusively with TheTalk.NG on Saturday, June 29, in Abuja, Olumide Ohunayo, the General Secretary of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), said the fleet’s grounded state points to fraud, systemic issues, and mismanagement.

He said:

“President Tinubu should suspend the idea of getting a new aircraft. He should instigate a proper audit of the maintenance of aircraft within the presidency.

“He should know what’s messing with the aircraft. He should know for what other things are they using their presidential aircraft. There is so much that needs to be investigated.”

“You cannot just wake up and say you want to go and buy another one when you have yet to resolve or even find out why or what happened and how to make sure it does not happen again.

“There shouldn’t be a rush in trying to get new fleets; rather there should be an internal audit to investigate what went wrong,” he said

Suspicion surrounding fleet grounding

While Ohunayo expressed his support for ensuring that President Tinubu travels with a well-maintained aircraft, he emphasized the need for transparency and accountability, given the current situation in which the entire fleet is grounded.

He said:

“We need the president to travel with a good presidential aircraft, that I support. But, in a situation where we are now when you have a fleet and all are grounded, it shows that something is wrong with the system and processes in place for the management of these fleets.”

Financial mismanagement concerns

Ohunayo raised concerns about the disappearance of maintenance funds, which have left the aircraft in a state of disrepair.

The expert highlighted the Senate committee’s decision to approve a new aircraft without first examining past expenditures as an example of insensitivity.

“There is a systemic problem whereby all the money budgeted for maintenance has disappeared, for the aircraft to have disappointed the president at a critical time.

“For the Senate committee alone to say we are approving a new aircraft for the president, let us then start looking for what had happened in the past, it shows insensitivity,” Ohunayo said.

Comparing with international standards

Ohunayo compared the Nigerian presidential aircraft to those of other countries, noting that age alone should not determine the aircraft’s usefulness.

The expert mentioned that some aircraft in other countries are over 20 years old and still operational.

“A 13-year-old aircraft is not old. A 19-year-old aircraft is not too old. Moreover, some aircraft are 20 years old and they are on schedule run and they are still performing today, but these 13-year-old aircraft for the president do not fly every day, maybe once or twice a month,” he explained.

Lawmakers demand urgent purchase of new aircraft for presidency

In a related development, a new report revealed that the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence had asked the federal government to immediately purchase new aeroplanes for the use of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.

TheTalk.NG reported that the Committee made the call in a report issued after its technical subcommittee conducted a hearing on the status and airworthiness of aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF).

Source: TheTalk.NG