ABUJA – The Federal Government during it Federal Executive Council on Wednesday has given approval for the release of the sum of $154. 5m(about N23.07bn) as contained in the 2010 Appropriation Act for the purchase of three presidential jets.

The  aircrafts Falcon 7X are to be supplied by Messrs Dassault Aviation of France, and  the Gulfstream G550 will be supplied by Messrs Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of the United States for use by the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF).

The Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili, told journalists after FEC’s meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, that the council approved the purchase of the aircraft after considering a memo from President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Mr. President briefed the council through a memo on the negotiations recently concluded with the representative of Dassault Aviation of France and Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of USA, for the purchase of two new Falcon 7X aircraft and one Gulfstream G550 respectively, for the PAF and sought the council’s approval to purchase the three new aircraft,” Akunyili said.

She further explained that, following a presidential directive, a definitive purchase agreement was negotiated, and signed on May 26, 2010, with Dassault Aviation and Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, for the purchase of the three aircraft.

The minister added that the purchase price of the two Falcon 7X aircraft is $102.2m, while the Gulfstream G550 cost $53.3m.

Akunyili also said that a “committee set up for the negotiation of the acquisition of the aircraft was able to get a reduction of the sum of $2.9m from the proposed price of the two Falcon 7X aircraft, and a reduction of the sum of $5.4m from the other price of the Gulfstream G550 aircraft.”

Although the Federal Government did not disclose the number of aircraft in the PAF, information available to our correspondent indicates that the fleet comprised eight aircraft as at November 2009.

FEC had at the end of its November 25, 2009 meeting announced that the government had commenced a phased replacement of aircraft in the PAF.

The council was then reacting to reservations by Nigerians about the government’s plan to acquire additional four aircraft for the fleet in 2010.

It was then reported that about N23.4bn had been provided in the 2010 Appropriation Act for the first batch of the four aircraft. The total cost is N315bn.

The government had explained that the decision to drop some of the eight aircraft followed the discovery that they had become too expensive to maintain due to old age.

It said then that it had already booked slots for the purchase of two new aircraft in 2010, and another two in 2011 and 2012.

The then Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muktar, who spoke with journalists after the November 25, 2009 meeting had said, “Some deposit was made in 2009 just to secure a slot; a small amount of N100m was made to secure a slot because you have to order these aircraft in advance.

“Last year, we could not make adequate budgetary provision but this small amount was paid so that we would be able to have two aircraft delivered in 2010. The remaining two will be delivered in 2011 and 2012 as we continue to make budgetary allocation.

“We have to do this as part of a phased replacement of the aircraft in the PAF. Essentially, what is happening is that we have received a proposal in the course of the budget discussion, in fact, as part of ongoing discussions which started last year.”

He added that the new aircraft would be for the use of principal officers of the government.

“They are to be operated as a fleet and will be deployed appropriately to serve other purposes, especially serving principal officers of the Federal Government. This includes the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he said.

Jonathan and some members of his entourage had last month escaped an air crash when the presidential jet in which they were travelling from Kampala, Uganda, to Abuja developed a fault mid-air.

This forced the pilot to return to the Kampala airport, where Jonathan and his entourage disembarked and spent another night in the Ugandan capital.

A presidency official who anticipates fresh reservations about the approval of funds for the new aircraft, explained that the three jets were not meant for the President.

He said, “Note that it is not the President’s plane that is being changed. It is some old aircraft on the fleet that are being replaced.

“The fleet services the entire apparatus of governance from the Executive, the Legislature and the judiciary as well as certain levels of the security services and more.”