“The savings generated will increase funding available to the government for capital investment.”
The journal further stated that unluckily these savings are a drop in the ocean. Nigeria is staring at a budget deficit that is set to double to N2.2tn in 2016.
President Buhari said that the country will get up to $4.5bn on foreign markets this year to close the gap. In January, it reached the World Bank and the African Development Bank for a $3.5bn emergency loan.
The report says: “The high cost of travel for government officials is unsurprising. The Nigerian elite has a taste for luxury travel, shown by the proliferation of private jets in the country.
“A 2012 investigation by Nigerian newspaper Punch found that wealthy Nigerians spent $6.5bn on private planes between 2007 and 2012, making the country the biggest market for them in Africa.
“Not all of them were bought with private funds. Under former president Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) acquired several new private jets, bringing its total to 11.
“According to the UN, 46% of Nigerians live in poverty, rising to 70 per cent in rural areas.”
The presidential fleet is funded from the defence budget and overseen by the Air Force. Buhari has faced criticism for failing to cut down the number of planes more than a year after he was inaugurated.
The disclosure that the presidential fleet cost N5.8bn to personnel and keep in the first six months of his government caused a rage in the national media.
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