Six Super Tucano jets to arrive Nigeria July –Presidency

The Presidency said on Thursday six out of the 12 Super Tucano fighter jets ordered by the Federal Government in 2018 would arrive in Nigeria by July.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

The government had ordered the delivery of 12 Super Tucano fighter aircraft at a cost of $496 million to fight the Boko Haram insurgents, armed bandits and other criminals terrorizing innocent Nigerians across the country.

The United States Department of Defence had in December 2018 assured the Nigerian government of its readiness to channel all efforts towards the delivery of the jets by the middle of 2019.

However, the aircraft arrival date was pushed forward again for unknown reasons.

But the matter came to a head a few days ago when the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, claimed in a chat with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the $1billion released from the Federation Account for the procurement of arms for the military was declared missing under the watch of the immediate past service chiefs.

READ ALSO: House of Reps to investigate Buhari’s Tucano jet purchase

The NSA, however, said in a statement later that he was quoted out of context by a section of the media on his interview with the BBC.

In Thursday’s statement, Shehu said 14 Nigerian pilots are currently undergoing training at the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.

He said: “Six of the 12 Super Tucanos are on track to arrive in mid-July 2021 with the remaining six expected to arrive shortly after that. There are 14 Nigerian pilots currently training at Moody Air Force Base in Atlanta Georgia, US.

“The Super Tucanos came off the production line in Jacksonville Florida and are now being equipped and flight tested. Nigerian pilots and maintenance personnel are training on these planes. Currently, the construction is ongoing, which will house the aircraft.

“The Air-Ground-Integration school is the training hub on targeting and minimization of civilian casualties.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now