The Tinubu-led government has reportedly spent approximately ₦19.43 billion on maintaining and operating the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to September 2024. Data reviewed by The PUNCH, sourced from GovSpend—a civic tech platform tracking government expenses—reveals that the fleet’s costs reached ₦13.
55 billion in 2024, representing roughly 66% of its allocated budget. A significant portion of these disbursements was labelled as “Forex Transit Funds,” used for covering foreign expenses such as fuel and maintenance costs when aircraft from the fleet are stationed abroad. A government official explained that payments made in foreign currency are essential for ensuring uninterrupted operations for the fleet when outside Nigeria.
“When aircraft on the fleet are abroad, payments are often made in U.S. dollars or another foreign currency to ensure uninterrupted operations, ” the government official explained.
Records show that in July 2023, ₦1.52 billion was allocated in two separate payments of ₦846 million and ₦675 million for the fleet’s foreign currency needs. In August, this increased to ₦3.
1 billion across three payments. Additional disbursements continued into the following months, with notable payments such as ₦5.6 billion spread over six transactions in August 2024.
During President Bola Tinubu‘s overseas tour in April, which included visits to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, the fleet’s transit account received ₦5.08 billion. .