Nigeria is at risk of losing $493m paid to the United States for the purchase of Super Tucano fighter planes over bad runway, the Senate Committee on Airforce has said.
The federal government had in 2018, paid $493 million to the US company for purchase of the aircraft to step up the war against Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges facing the country.
However, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Air Force, Senator Mike Ama Nnachi, raised the alarm while presenting the budget report of the Air Force before the Senate Committee on Appropriation on Thursday.
He told the lawmakers that when the Americans came to inspect the Kanji runway, they complained that the Kanji runway does not have capacity to carry the Aircraft .
He therefore said there is need to make provision for additional N9 billion that will take care of the runway and Aircraft or else Nigeria will lose the money and the Aircraft.
He said, “It is a very serious issue, they are running around, they have gone to the Finance Minister, they have gone to CBN, they have gone to the Senate President. The money needed is not part of the main budget.
“Nigeria has already paid $493 million for the aircraft, and the officials of American company who came to Nigeria last week said that the Kanji runway is not capable of carrying the fighter jets which will make the country forfeit the investment already made in that direction.”
In his response, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Jubril Barau assured that its committee will look inward to make fund available to address the issue in the 2021 budget.
