Refurbishment and repainting: Recently acquired presidential aircraft transported to South Africa

A total of N20.03 billion was allocated for the maintenance and operations of the Presidential Air Fleet between July 2023 and December 2024.

This expenditure coincided with the new presidential jet, acquired the previous year, being sent to South Africa for refurbishment and enhancements. According to findings from GovSpend, a civic technology platform that monitors and analyzes Federal Government expenditures, the disbursements for 2024 reached N14.15 billion, which constitutes 71 percent of the budget designated for the fleet in the 2024 fiscal year.

The majority of these funds were categorized as 'Forex Transit Funds,' typically designated for foreign exchange needs to support international transactions and engagements.

For the Presidential Air Fleet, these funds are utilized for expenses incurred abroad, such as fuel purchases and maintenance services in foreign currencies. A government official clarified,

'When aircraft from the fleet are overseas, payments are frequently made in U.S. dollars or other foreign currencies to ensure seamless operations.' In July 2023, N1.52 billion was disbursed in two installments of N846 million and N675 million for 'Presidential air fleet forex transit funds.'

In the subsequent month, a total of N3.1 billion was allocated in three installments of N388 million, N2 billion, and N713 million for the same purpose.

In November of that year, N1.26 billion was transferred to the Presidential Air Fleet naira transit account.

The initial overhead for 2024 occurred in March, with N1.27 billion disbursed on two occasions, totaling N2.54 billion. The transit account received N6.35 billion in April, N4.97 billion in May, and N210 million in July.

In August, N5.60 billion was distributed in six separate transactions, marking the highest frequency of disbursements that year. These funds were deposited into the Presidential Air Fleet naira transit account, which included a transfer of N168 million made on September 11 and 19.
From December 7 to 24, 2025, N469.72 million was released in eight installments. In April, the transit account received N5.08 billion, coinciding with the President's two-nation tour to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Although President Tinubu arrived in the Netherlands aboard a state-owned Gulfstream AeroSpace 550 Jet, the aircraft was unable to continue to Saudi Arabia due to unspecified technical issues, prompting him to complete his journey on a chartered private plane. At that time, the President's Boeing 737 business jet was undergoing maintenance and was subsequently replaced with an Airbus A330 acquired for $100 million in August through service-wide votes.

The nearly 15-year-old aircraft, an ACJ330-200, VP-CAC (MSN 1053), is described as 'spacious and equipped with advanced avionics, a customized interior, and a communications system,' according to Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the President's Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, who further noted that 'it will significantly reduce Nigeria's maintenance and fuel expenses, amounting to millions of dollars annually.'

It has been noted that since February 2025, the President has been utilizing a BBJ registered in San Marino (REG: T7-NAS). Sources who communicated with one of our reporters verified that the main aircraft was transported to South Africa to modify its livery to represent the Presidential office.

One source, who requested anonymity, mentioned,
'The last information I received indicated that they took it overseas, likely to South Africa, to alter the exterior design. It lacks the green, white, and green colors.' Another official remarked,

'It is not solely the exterior paint; I have learned that they are also undertaking some refurbishment on it.'

The newly acquired Airbus A330 is among several aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet, which is arguably one of the largest in Africa, consisting of approximately 11 aircraft of different types and models.

Until August, the fleet included a 19-year-old B737-700 (BBJ) and a 13-year-old Gulfstream Aerospace G550. The BBJ was purchased during former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration for $43 million but has become increasingly costly to maintain as it has aged.

The fixed-wing fleet for the presidency features a Gulfstream G500, two Falcon 7Xs, a Hawker 4000, and a Challenger 605, with reports indicating that three of the seven fixed-wing aircraft are currently unserviceable.

The rotor-wing fleet includes two Agusta 139s and two Agusta 101s, all operated by the Nigerian Air Force but supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Since 2017, budgetary allocations for the PAF have shown a growing trend, with one exception in 2020. The allocation for the fleet increased from N4.37bn in 2017 to N20.52bn in 2024, showing a 370 per cent rise in running costs. In 2022, maintenance expenses for each aircraft ranged from $1.5m to $4.5m annually.

In 2018, the fleet’s budget rose significantly by 66.13 per cent to N7.26bn, driven by a substantial increase in capital project allocations while maintaining similar levels for recurrent costs. This upward trajectory continued into 2019, slightly increasing the total allocation to N7.30bn.

The exception came in 2020, when the budget dropped by nearly 7 per cent to N6.79bn, primarily due to decreased overhead costs, a reflection of the global economic impacts of lockdowns and disruptions in operations.

By 2021, however, the budget surged dramatically to N12.55bn—a record increase of 84.83 per cent from the previous year. The 2022, 2023 and 2024 appropriation acts earmarked N12.48bn, N13.07bn and N20.52bn respectively.

On his way to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa, a foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s Gulf Stream aircraft during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York.

According to Lee Aerospace, manufacturers of Gulfstream jet windshields, these thick, multilayered structures comprise varying layers of glass and transparent acrylic, built to withstand collisions with a 2 kg object.


However, damage to the windshield must have affected its inner layers. While specific prices for replacement can vary based on supplier, labour rates and regional costs, estimates suggest that a single windshield replacement for a G550 can range from $50,000 to $70,000 for part and labour costs.

In an interview with our correspondent, the General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, blamed the meteoric rise in the allocations for the PAF on the age of some of the fleet’s aircraft, the declining value of the naira, and the Nigerian Air Force’s “commercial use” of aircraft.

Ohunayo explained, “The cost will definitely increase over the years because, for one, this issue of the naira against the dollar. As the naira keeps falling to the dollar, we will see a rise in cost because most of the costs of training crew and engineers and replacing aircraft parts are all in dollars.

“Also, some of these aircraft are not new. The older the aircraft, the higher the cost of maintenance and operation. Lastly, during these past years, terrorism and insecurity have increased in Nigeria, which has also affected the cost of insuring the aircraft.”

The Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, argued that the administration’s spending habits were contrary to Nigerians’ expectations of frugality.

“What we are getting from this administration is the opposite of our expectations. We thought we would have an administration that would be frugal in spending and very meticulous at implementing its budget. But what we are getting is an administration that has fallen in love with profligacy, that doesn’t see anything wrong in living big in a poverty-stricken nation.

Adeniran further said, “It is a reenactment of the Shagari administration, whereby they bought the biggest Mercedes Benz and made themselves as comfortable as possible without considering how much the masses are suffering.

“So when you look at a Vice President saying he’s not travelling [to Samoa] again because there was a splinter on the windscreen of his private aircraft. Why should that be the case?

“First and foremost, we need to be represented at such an international meeting, where we should be well represented by the first two citizens of this country. He abandoned that, which means we would have lost certain representation that we deserve at that forum. Two, money will have been spent on advance parties that went ahead of the Vice President. But he abandoned the journey altogether.”

The CEO of Centurion Security Limited, John Ojikutu, justified the figure considering all related expenses.

“That’s not a big deal. If they are going to go and repair, particularly for C-checks, it’s always around that range. They will fly it abroad, but fuel, catering, and hotel bills are also involved; pilots will fly it back, and the figure likely includes far more than the direct cost of repairing the aircraft,” Ojikutu explained.

Meanwhile, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, argued that the new Airbus 330 aircraft and the costs of maintaining the air fleet are not for the President’s comfort but in the interest of Nigerians.

“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is o