Category: Editorial

•The new measures deserve the support of Nigerians but the CBN must ensure the electronic platforms work better than they are now

 

It is certainly not surprising that the measures rolled out by the apex bank to limit the amount of cash in day-to-day transactions has stoked a lot of concerns among Nigerians. We refer here to the new rules announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which set cash withdrawals by individuals at N20,000 a day or N100,000 a week; and for companies a maximum of N100,000 per day or N500,000 per week.

The rule also makes clear that individuals and companies withdrawing cash from the banking halls above the approved thresholds will pay five per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, on withdrawals. The rule affects other payment channels as Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (PoS) and cheque-based transactions. Moreover, the CBN says “only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs”.

And that is not all; the apex bank says that “in compelling circumstances…where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits is required for legitimate purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not exceed N5 million and N10 million for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees as well as additional enhanced due diligence and information requirements”. Even that is limited to once a month.

As for the individuals and companies seeking above-limit withdrawals, they now have a burden of providing and submitting additional information to a special, purposely created CBN portal. Among the requirements set out by the apex bank is a valid means of identification of the payee such as national identity, international passport, driver’s license; Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the payee and notarised customer declaration of the purpose for the cash withdrawal.

“Also, such above-limit withdrawal must be under special approval of the managing director of the drawee and an approval in writing by the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank authorising the withdrawal.”

Needless to state that the CBN urged customers to use alternative channels (internet banking, mobile banking apps, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), cards/POS, eNaira, among others ) to conduct their banking transactions.

Of course, the CBN has made it clear that the measures are dictated by the exigencies of monetary policy management and national security. So, the point has been made, and it is hard to gloss over the many issues enumerated by the apex bank as underlying not just the latest measures but also the naira redesign policy earlier announced.  Among these is the need to curb inflation and tame the rampaging liquidity, ensure a more effective tracking of financial flows, particularly to terrorists and other criminal elements, and to restore some dignity to the national currency.

So is the extant culture of abuse – particularly the hoarding of new naira notes by unscrupulous currency traders in collusion with bank personnel and the associated practice of open ‘spraying’ of same at parties and other social events, which have become something of a societal norm; the latter in particular makes the imperative of behavioural change just as compelling.

Both measures are not only complementary but also mutually reinforcing; borne as it were of the need to optimise their declared objectives. In a sense, we see the measures as important milestones in the trajectory to get Nigerians to embrace the use of alternative payment platforms other than cash.

Expectedly, not a few Nigerians have expressed diverse opinions on what the measures bode for the ordinary citizen: the peasant farmer in the rural areas, the itinerant herdsman in the forests, our hordes of operators in the informal sector, etc. most of whom, it is often assumed – rightly or wrongly – operate outside of the monetary policy orbit. Not infrequently cited are Nigerians daily experiences of glitches on the diverse platforms; the unimaginable frustrations experienced in getting financial institutions to expeditiously resolve issues arising when they occur.

In other words, questions about the state of existing cashless infrastructure; are they adequate or robust enough? How about addressing or significantly reducing the challenges that people experience when using those alternative electronic payment platforms as a necessary first step to remove the current climate of distrust?

What of the paper work that the CBN now makes mandatory for those making withdrawals above the threshold? Would the associated red tape not spawn corrupt practices?

Some of these fears are no doubt legitimate. They are however sometimes over-stated if not entirely exaggerated given that the country has been on this trajectory since 2011/2 when the initial first measures to reduce cash transactions were rolled out. In any case, there is certainly no perfect system anywhere in the world, just as there is yet no suggestion that the current system has not delivered substantially; what the CBN needs to do is to work with the deposit money banks to address some of the identified problems.

Of course, another way to look at the issue is to see how much the nation’s financial terrain has changed in the last few years, both in depth and sophistication. Here, the deepening of the financial system through the introduction of diverse payment platforms and Nigerians’ steady embrace of them readily comes to mind. Most certainly, there is ample evidence not only of unprecedented advance in financial technology services but also of Nigerians’ acceptance of them, perhaps far more than many would care to admit. With technology-enabled financial services readily available at the touch of a button, and with millions of PoS terminals spread across the country, including remote areas, to meet the daily financial needs of the citizens, the task seems as simple as ensuring that more and more Nigerians are able to access them. In fact, the current trajectory would seem the next natural sequence.

So, the choice facing the country in the circumstance is not about rolling back the gains but making use of the lessons learnt over the years to push forward. In any case, we have already referred to the grave national security issues that have since arisen from the unrestricted use of cash and which has rendered the new thrust inevitable.

We therefore encourage the CBN to stay the course. As for the CBN governor’s promise of flexibility on the cash limits if this becomes necessary, it seems to us the most pragmatic stance to take. Overall however, we remain convinced that the measures will serve the nation’s best interests in the long run.

•It is not good that both our IGP and COAS were convicted for contempt

 

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba was sentenced to three months imprisonment last week, for the continuing disobedience of a court order by the office of the IGP. A federal High Court sitting in Abuja, in a ruling delivered by Justice M. O. Olajuwon, ordered that the IGP be committed to prison and detained for a period of three months, or until his office obeys the judgment of the high court delivered since 2011.

The court held that despite a court order reinstating a compulsorily retired police officer, Patrick Okoli, a position affirmed by the Police Service Commission (PSC), the office of the IGP has refused to reinstate the officer. The judgment had also ordered the police to pay N10 million in damages to the officer, being special and general damages for the unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional denial of the officer’s rights and privileges as a senior officer of the Nigeria Police Force, from 1993 until the judgment.

Reacting to the order of the court, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, claimed: “the office (of IGP) is not aware of any court order, during the current IGP’s tenure, with respect to a matter making the round in the media that the IGP disobeyed a court order for the reinstatement of a dismissed officer of the force”. He went on: “The IGP has however directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Legal Unit to investigate the allegation in a bid to ascertain the position of the court and proffer informed legal advice for the IGP’s prompt and necessary action.”

If the claim by Mr Adejobi is factual, then the IGP is not fully in charge of the responsibilities of the office he occupies. As he ought to know, the office of the IGP is not personal to him, and on assumption of office as IGP, he inherits the accrued benefits and liabilities of the office, until he retires or is sacked. If his subordinates failed to bring to his notice an order of the court affecting his office since he took over, they deserve to be disciplined for dereliction of duty.

We are surprised that the force PRO Mr Adejobi, is insinuating that the judgment of the court covers a period when Usman Baba was not the IGP, as if that would make any difference. We note that whether the judgment was delivered eons ago is immaterial. As long as the judgment is subsisting, and is made against the office of the IGP, the present occupant of the office is bound to obey it.

It should be evident to the IGP that the judgment was made by the court to force his office to obey the court order made since October 21, 2011. We consider it an abuse of office for the past occupants of the office of the IGP to have disobeyed the judgement of the court, since over a decade. Obviously because the IGP controls the police, the occupants chose to ignore the order, believing that their subordinates would dare not execute it.

Just as we were putting this editorial to bed, a Federal High Court sitting in Minna, Niger State, presided over by Justice Halima Adulmalik reportedly ordered that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS)  General Farouk Yahaya, be arrested for contempt of court, and be kept at Minna Correctional Centre until he purges himself of the contempt. The judge also ordered that the Commandant, Training and Doctrine Command, Minna, Niger State, Major-General Olugbenga Olabanji, be arrested and detained for similar offence, like the COAS.

We reiterate that nobody is above the law, regardless of the office one occupies. The law is for all, and all is under the law. Contempt of court undermines the very foundation of the rule of law, which is fundamental in a democratic society. Both the army and police chiefs must therefore understand the basic fact that they are subjected to civilian rule, and if they are in doubt, the president and commander-in-chief, President Muhammadu Buhari, must ensure the orders of court are carried out.

To many, it would appear strange that the number one police chief and the COAS could be ordered to be detained by the courts. But those orders of court show that we are a nation governed by law. Of note, there are escape routes for the two chiefs, which is to obey the orders of the court. When a court makes an order it must be obeyed, unless there is a stay of execution or the order is upturned by a superior court.

For the good of our country, we urge the IGP to live up to the promise made by his spokesman Mr Adejobi that: “The Inspector-General of Police reiterates his commitment to upholding the rule of law and synergising with the judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice for an improved criminal justice system.” Likewise, we urge the COAS and the commandant who are in contempt of court to purge themselves or go to jail.

•The least society owes the victim is to let the boys pay for the crime upon conviction

 

November is often remembered for the week-long celebration of the activities marking the International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women. Ironically, some three teenage students of Akure High School in Ondo State, 17-year-old Idris Mathews, 18-year-old Olawale Tobi and Ajayi Micheal, 17, have been arrested by the Ondo State Police Command for allegedly gang-raping a 14-year-old student who had gone behind the school to defecate.

This sad incident occurred a few months after some three male students had gang-raped a 15-year-old girl in the Akowonjo area of Lagos. Their prosecution had started and they were charged for conspiracy and rape. We only hope that unlike many other such cases, justice would be done.

The Ondo High School case is a mere metaphor for the sexual violence that women and girls suffer in the country. The question we must ask as a country is, why are there too many cases of sexual violence in Nigeria? What are the root causes? What are the solutions? How are we raising the children who are the future? Are children taking a cue from adults? Are there lapses in the criminal justice system that encourage certain crimes? Are there laws that are not being implemented? Are there processes to crime resolution that the security agencies or other administrators of justice are skipping?

We ask these questions because sexual violence, especially against women, seems to be one crime that the offenders do not always serve the times. Rape is generally not treated with the seriousness it deserves because the patriarchal system often tends to see violence against women as normal. Sometimes when victims go to report rape cases, they are often mocked or in the case of incestuous paedophiles, there is the hypocritical concealment that tend to protect the men and families and security agencies treat the crimes as ‘family affair’. Some victims are coerced to go home and settle, leaving the victims permanently broken .

This very heinous crime by the alleged boys must not be treated with the kind of kid gloves we notice very often. There are juvenile correctional facilities that the two 17-year-olds can serve the term and the 18 year-old must be sent, if convicted, into the adult jail.  But we fear that like many of such cases, there might be some cover-ups by either the school authorities or the parents of the boys. But to do that is destroying the society. The lack of serious and consistent prosecution of sexual offenders is encouraging the epidemic proportion of sexual offences not only against women but even for sodomy. Some countries like South Korea and Indonesia propose castration for paedophiles.

The society must begin to address with more seriousness issues of sexual violence in ways that the punishment serves as deterrent. The young boys must have been emboldened by the fact that they have seen adult rapists go free and boast about that. Abduction of women in the country for sexual violation goes unpunished. Children tend to practice what they see adults do. Many men boast openly about their sexual escapades as if it is some sign of masculine achievements. The younger ones take those actions as a sign of strength over girls.

There are states that have instituted Sexual Offenders Register and courts. That is very commendable because it helps to conclusively deal with such cases and make sure the names of such offenders are recorded for posterity and such offenders are prevented from holding public offices in the future.  We are hoping that every state would  be compelled by law to domesticate such laws so that future offenders can be deterred.

We are equally appalled that in 2022, a school in Ondo State does not have toilet facilities thus making the poor girl going to the bush to defecate. How hygienic is that and now her life has been ruined by that singular act. We equally advice parents to educate their children about love and lust. The story is that the girl had earlier turned down the love advances of one of the alleged rapists. How does a love advance turn to a rape case? Why should the boys weaponise their masculinity? We hope justice would be done and their victim given the therapy that can assist her in life to grow without the guilt normally heaped on rape victims.

•Govt should name, shame and indeed prosecute Boko Haram financiers, not just identify them

 

Ordinarily, the revelation by the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregesola, that over 100 high-risk financiers of the Boko Haram terrorist group that has been waging a protracted insurgency resulting in large scale deaths, destruction and displacement of persons and livelihoods in the North-East region of the country have been identified should be heart-warming. Indeed, it should normally be taken as indication of the determination of the Federal Government to deal decisively with the menace. Speaking at the 3rd Ministerial Conference in India on Counter-Terrorism Financing with the theme, ‘No Money for Terror’, the minister poured encomiums on the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for unmasking the suspects who he said have links with 10 countries. According to him, “The unique ability of the NFIU to work with counterparts in the region and across the world, particularly through the framework of the Egmont Group of FIUs is a key asset to our country…In 2019, the NFIU commenced an in-depth analysis of the financing of the Boko Haram group. This analysis which took almost 18 months to complete, resulted in the identification of almost 100 high-risk financiers and identified links to 10 different countries…Ultimately, the results of the analysis resulted in the arrest of 48 of the financiers and the ongoing prosecution of a number of them”.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to blame most Nigerians who will take this information with skepticism because this is not the first time such disclosures will be made by high public officials, with nothing meaningful being done to prosecute those involved in such nefarious crimes. For example, in March 2021, presidential spokesman, Mr. Garba Shehu, told the press that the Nigerian government had arrested 400 bureaux de change operators for allegedly funding the Boko Haram insurgency in the country, emphasising that the suspects were transferring money to the terrorists. Surprisingly, the identities of these suspects were not disclosed and there has so far been no report made to the public on the progress made in their prosecution. Indeed, Shehu’s colleague, Mr. Femi Adesina, had stated that the government was more interested in prosecuting the terrorism financiers than in naming and shaming them as being demanded by members of the public.

It is thus pertinent to wonder if Mr. Aregbesola’s disclosure in the current instant is not following this unproductive pattern. We cannot fathom why the minister kept mute as regards the names and other details of the terrorism sponsors. If 48 of the suspects have indeed been arrested and are being prosecuted, why are their identities being kept secret? In which courts are they being tried and why is there no coverage of such cases in the media? In any case, if the NFIU has its facts correct that 100 of such persons have been identified, how come that only 48 of them have been apprehended and purportedly being tried? The minister’s applause for the NFIU is, in our view, decidedly unjustified if as he said the agency only began investigating the financing of the Boko Haram group in 2019. The group had begun its destructive campaign over a decade before then. Surely, if the sources of Boko Haram’s funding had been seriously probed and blocked at the inception of its insurgency, it is not unreasonable to assume that it would have been prevented from transforming into the monster it has become today.

Responding to earlier demands by the public that those the government claimed had been identified as financiers of terrorism be named and shamed, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), had sought to justify why the authorities could not accede to such requests. In his words, “Naming and shaming of suspects is not embarked upon as a policy by the Federal Government out of sheer respect for the constitutional rights of Nigerians relating to presumption of innocence. It is a product of constitutionalism and the law. It is rooted in the law and the names of the suspects will accordingly be made public at the point of judicial arraignment while the trials are about judicial processes and not media sensations…We must strike a balance between constitutional presumption of innocence and evidential proof of reasonable ground of suspicion in making disclosures with terrorism funding and financing”. We find this resort to legal technicalities to justify a refusal to do the rational and needful in naming suspected financiers of terror unconvincing, especially given the high casualties and massive destruction the country has suffered from these destructive activities.

If indeed the relevant agencies had been thorough and diligent in their investigations as well as sure of their facts, why the hesitancy to name identified suspects? Disclosing their identities does not preclude them from undergoing fair and credible trial through our judicial system where they have ample opportunity to prove their innocence. Rather, hiding their identities suggests that the prosecutorial agencies are unsure of their facts and the solidity of evidence at their disposal. Why indeed the rush to announce to the public that the alleged terrorism financiers have been unmasked when their identities would be hidden?

We recall that before his arraignment in court on July 29, 2022, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged fraud to the tune of N109 billion, the former Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris, had been exposed in the media by the anti-graft agency, which did not wait for the commencement of trial before availing the public of the necessary information.

Again, early in the life of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, in its first term, security agencies carried out raids on the residences of some Justices of the Supreme Court for alleged corruption and their identities were not masked even before they were arraigned in court. The cases of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu of the now proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) as well as Mr. Sunday Igboho, an agitator for an independent Yoruba nation, are also well known. They were named and branded as engaging in alleged treasonous acts ever before being charged to court. We thus find it difficult to comprehend why the case of alleged financial sponsors of terrorism who have caused much more havoc to lives and property should be an exception.

Only recently, the Acting Theatre Intelligence Coordinator of the North-East Joint Operation, Hadin Kai, Colonel Obinna Azuike, disclosed to the media that 886 Boko Haram inmates are currently awaiting transfer to Giwa Project in Kainji, Niger State, for prosecution. He said further that 323 detainees were transferred to Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State for the Deradicalisation, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation (DDR) programme of the Federal Government. According to him, over 82,237 terrorists and their families had surrendered since July 2021 and that of these, 16,577 were active male fighters while 24,499 were women and 41, 161 are children. Can it be that the emphasis of the government is to get these terrorists and their financiers to surrender and repent rather than to face the legal consequences of their horrendous crimes? We sincerely hope that this is not so as it would be tantamount to shielding terrorists, which is nothing but condoning terror. It is detrimental to law and justice.

•Nigerians need affordable fuel, not lame excuses

 

Every actor of note in the fuel supply chain has been speaking on the factors behind the latest cycle of scarcity that has grounded activities in most parts of the country, especially Lagos and Abuja, and which has seen fuel prices hover between N185 per litre to N300 in different parts of the country. Such has been a flurry of denials, obfuscation and blame trading that Nigerians have had much difficulties making sense of them.

From the industry’s supposed leader – the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), we heard that some ongoing construction projects that have caused diversion of vehicles are at the heart of the problem. At a press conference last week, NNPC’s executive vice president, downstream, Adeyemi Adetunji, was quoted to have said that: “The recent queues in Lagos are largely due to ongoing road infrastructure projects around Apapa and access road challenges in some parts of Lagos depots”. The situation in Abuja, he added “is impacted by the challenges recorded in Lagos”.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), ever quick to absolve its members of profiteering, has also been speaking. It attributed the crisis to the vandalism of depots belonging to the NNPC Limited. According to its president, Chinedu Okoronkwo, 80 percent of NNPC depots have been vandalised, hence the product is now being kept in the depots of private individuals, who bear the cost of transporting the product from the ports to their depots.

The body’s public relations officer, Chinedu Ukadike, has since added an addendum: “There is a supply gap and this is the recent increase of dollar against the Naira, it is also contributing to it. The sufficiency period of NNPC is not enough to match up the gap that resulted from the cut in supply chain”.

And finally, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), who through its executive secretary, Clement Isong, let it be known that the root of the problem is simply inadequate supply.

The point is – none of these rationalisations is new. So typical have they become that long-suffering Nigerians have come to accept them as industry standard – the euphemism for failure by a bunch of opportunistic and self-serving actors. That these lame excuses no longer bother the players can only be a measure of the profound contempt they have for Nigerians.

Interestingly, none of the players also – beyond the finger-pointing – would admit to any lapses; not the NNPC Ltd that would rather finger ‘construction projects’ than admit to the reality of product shortage; not the IPMAN’s profiteering members that have come to see every cycle of supply hiccups as an opportunity to make brisk business at the expense of the hapless fuel consumer; not the regulator – the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority – that has been pushing out phantom statistics on fuel stocks amidst supply-foisted chaos.

And certainly not the Muhammadu Buhari administration that has failed to provide that critical direction, leadership, and the political will required to take the sector out of the woods in the last seven years. Nigerians, as it were, are not only expected to make sense of the gobbledegook but also to swallow them.

Of course, Nigerians know the truth – which is that the country does not have enough supply to go round. That much was confirmed by IPMAN’s National Vice President, Abubakar Maigandi, when he told this newspaper that most of the tank farms from which the marketers buy petrol were not selling to them.

Read Also: Fuel scarcity: MOMAN, NNPCL collaborate to improve distribution – Official

Said he: “For almost two weeks now, all our trucks are there waiting for the product in Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri.”

The question is – why is NNPCL, the government monopoly in charge of fuel importation not bringing in enough? Is it for lack of foreign exchange, and this by a company also solely in charge of crude sales, or, a case of poor planning – plain incompetence?

It is hard to overlook the other part of the perennial fuel scarcity story that is of a structural, institutional nature. We refer here to the destruction of the fuel distribution infrastructure by vandals, enabled by the criminal indifference, and ultimately, the total surrender of the facility to the former by the NNPC and the government itself.

Is it not baffling, for instance, that whereas the Ejigbo Depot and ancillary facilities owned by the government have been put out of use – their roles taken over by private depots in Apapa, both the NNPCL and the government have long accepted the situation as normal? Isn’t that responsible for the chaos that has become the lot of the Apapa axis and the incessant hiccups in the system? Isn’t that the reason private depots have been making a kill from the contrived crisis?

Today, most Nigerians may have forgotten that the country operated a virile fuel distribution system through its so-called System 2B. That system not only ensured that products from Atlas Cove were moved to Ejigbo, to Mosinmi (Sagamu), to Ibadan, Ore and Ilorin, it completely eliminated the need for tankers to move products on the roads. Is the abandonment of that facility not the reason tankers are perennially massed in Apapa to the great discomfort of the travellers on that axis?

Shouldn’t Nigerians at this time begin to wonder about the so-called ‘newness’ in the national oil corporation whose management is all over the place acquiring retail stations but is yet to figure out what to do with those critical assets?

We certainly do not see the problem as impossible to fix; what is missing is the absence of critical thinking and political will. This is why Nigerians must constantly remind the Federal Government and the NNPCL, lest they forget, that maintaining a regime of seamless, uninterrupted fuel supply cannot be rocket science. Other countries that are not even oil-producing are doing  this without bringing stress to the people. Why should ours be different? Only in the corrupt, rent-steeped fuel importation regime currently entrenched in the country makes something as simple as putting an efficient fuel distribution system in place look impossible.

It is time for the government to revamp the existing fuel supply/distribution system. Unfortunately, NNPCL, as presently constituted, does not appear to fit the bill in terms of what it takes to get the job done; its legendary indifference will only continue to exacerbate the problem. A company that cannot make the country’s four refineries function or get new players to substantially refine fuel locally and is thus perennially satisfied with fuel importation by a country that is a major crude producer does not seem to have the capacity to turn things round in the industry.

Part of the current lessons is that name-change alone without fundamental reforms in structure and thinking, will not solve the problem. Given the dire emergency that the situation has turned, the government will need to step in urgently to ensure that the right structures are in place. That should form part of the restructuring package for the sub sector. At this point, Nigerians are simply tired of excuses.

There are better ways of presidential fleet funding than budgetary hikes

 

Aircraft in Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) are in hock to foreign creditors and stand the risk of being seized abroad, says PAF Commander Air Vice-Marshal Abubakar Abdullahi. The fleet is indebted to service providers for various upgrades carried out on its aircraft to keep them airworthy, he was reported to have said.

There are 10 aircraft in the presidential fleet used in securely conveying the President and Vice-President, their immediate families and other top government functionaries. These comprise a Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800), one Gulfstream G550, one Gulfstream V G500, two Falcons 7X, one Hawker Sydney 4000, two AgustaWestland AW149 helicopters, and two AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters. At the outset of his administration in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to trim the number of aircraft in the fleet towards cutting the cost of governance. But this promise hasn’t materialised, with the fleet size reputed as among the largest of its type anywhere – especially in Africa – and favourably comparing with commercial airline fleets in this country. Out of the fleet inherited from the previous administration, though, two AgustaWestland AW101 VIP helicopters were handed over to the Nigerian Air Force.

Air Vice-Marshal Abdullahi bemoaned inadequate funding of the fleet, which he warned was hazarding its operations. Addressing the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence during a defence of the fleet’s 2023 budget, he explained that the average age of aircraft in the fleet is 11 years and in aviation, the cost of maintenance rises in proportion to the aircraft age. A report by Sunday PUNCH cited him as saying the fleet’s experience showed that the cost of maintaining each aircraft was between $1.5million and $4.5million, depending on the level of maintenance due. He thus argued for upward review of the votes for 2023; noting that in the 2022 budget, the PAF had proposed N19.4billion but N12.4billion was appropriated, out of which N11.13billion (98.07 per cent of the appropriation) had been released as of October.

Highpoints of Abdullahi’s case for better funding of the fleet, according to the report, include that N1.5billion approved for maintenance of fleet aircraft out of N4.5billion proposed was inadequate.  “It is pertinent for this honourable committee to note that for successive years, the fleet has been grossly underfunded, which has made it difficult to operate. From the fleet’s records, debts from preceding years are usually carried over into the following budget year and it is becoming a tradition,” he said, adding: “Permit me to also state that most of these debts are owed to service providers overseas. Considering that over 85 per cent of the fleet’s expenditure is forex transactions, the actual budget figure in dollar terms is further diminished. The fleet is currently indebted to some of its service providers due to insufficient funding from budgetary allocations and the situation makes it bad for planning. As stated earlier, we currently have to have some mandatory upgrades done on our aircraft so as to meet airworthiness requirements.”

According to the fleet commander, aircraft whose upgrade was put on hold owing to fund inadequacy include the fleet’s two Falcons 7X series that were due for upholstery refurbishment to give the 11-year-old planes a new look. “They are projected for refurbishment in their next maintenance due in December 2022 and July 2023, respectively, which will cost $2.5million each. Furthermore, the fleet’s personnel and aviation insurance premium for the year 2022 amounting to $5.1million is also due for renewal in February 2023. The fleet may not be able to fund these due to a shortfall in the budget,” Abdullahi argued, adding: “Underfunding the fleet could have adverse effects on safety operations. It may also lead to our nation being embarrassed in the international community either through seizure of PAF aircraft at foreign airports or maintenance facilities. Moreover, other states may deny PAF aircraft necessary overflight permits for foreign missions.”

Another major plank of the fleet commander’s pitch for more funds is the cost of aviation fuel. He told the lawmakers that the N250million approved for aviation fuel out of N4billion requested was grossly inadequate, reminding them that aviation fuel which sold at an average cost of N390 per litre in January now goes for N915 per litre. Abdullahi also argued that the N8.072billion voted for the fleet in the 2023 budget out of proposed N15.5billion was inadequate to cater for its needs.

By all means, the presidential fleet is a symbol of the country’s sovereignty and deserves funding to make it optimally operational. Besides, the airworthiness of the fleet aircraft is directly correlational to the safety of our leaders and, by implication, the country’s own security. But the cost effectiveness of the fleet is highly debatable. Why, for instance, must we keep 10 aircraft in the fleet – more so when the incumbent President had acknowledged the wastefulness and promised to cut down on the number? How many aircraft do they have in the fleet of the United States President reputed as the most powerful office in the world? In other words, why can’t we have just a couple of aircraft kept in perfect shape for PAF’s operations while other aircraft are sold off. The beauty of such arrangement is that putting the ones to be retained in perfect shape need not be at burdensome cost to the national treasury, because proceeds from the ones sold off can be applied to that end.

Besides, the argument for more funds for the fleet to underwrite higher cost of aviation fuel is spurious. One would have thought a more reasonable approach in view of the dire state of the country’s treasury is to cut down on travel schedules and thereby save the nation costs. The Nigerian public are currently bowed over by the same harsh regime of high aviation fuel cost and many have had to drastically cut down on, or entirely cut out from air travels. No one is talking about succour for them. Arguing for higher votes from the national commonwealth to fund same cost head for presidential travels without a thought of cutting down on those travels smacks of crass insensitivity and affronts the overburdened citizenry.