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We’ve spent N2b not N6b on Presidential fleet – Presidency

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The Presidency, on Tuesday, said contrary to stories making the rounds, only a little above two billion Naira, not six billion has so far been spent on maintenance of the presidential air fleet between May and November.

According to a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Shehu Garba, in Abuja, the amount spent included salaries and repayment of old debts.

Garba, who expressed frustration at what he described as a fictional report that has caused the government a lot of negative reviews especially in the online media, said: “The government is focused on solving the many major issues our country faces in the areas of the economy, corruption and security. Yet almost every week, the Presidency has to also deal with the distractions which do nothing but distract from the task of government”.

Continuing, Garba said documents he had requested from the Operational Office of the Presidential Fleet after his attention was drawn to the report, showed that the sum of N2.3 billion was released to the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation between May and November 2015.

This, he said included releases for personnel cost, overhead and capital expenditure out of the sum of N5,190,381,386.00 appropriated for PAF on the 2015 budget.

”The documents also showed that the sum of N2,127,103,086.66 had so far been expended, leaving a balance of N172,568,912.34 from the amount released.

“However, the sum of N149,062,791.12 was transferred from the PAG’s operation account to the Treasury Single Account, following the President’s recent directive,” he said.

Garba explained that the sum of N23,801,122.17 stands unutilised out of the funds so far released.

According to the presidential spokesman, the Fleet used the sum of N1,358,910,962.75 to settle outstanding liabilities carried over from last year till May 2015, adding that the sum of N500 million was refunded to the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA for financial support rendered to the Fleet prior to release of funds from the OAGF.

”Thus, the Fleet expended the sum of N449,081,037.25 within the last months comprising N98,500,218.00 for operations, N165,373,176.91 on training and N85,500,116.75 on personnel medicals and overhead. Additionally, the sum of N99,715,493.51 was expended on aircraft maintenance, spares, and subscription services required for operations.

“Any of these documents could have been made available had the newspaper reached out to me or to any one of my colleagues. The damage to the image of government and the good management of the Presidential Air fleet could have been avoided,” he said.

Garba also said that contrary to reports, the number of aircraft inbthe Presidential is 10 and not 14.

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