FRANKLIN IHEJIRIKA examines the Nigerian governors’ penchant for flying chattered jets which no doubt is eating deep into their states’ finances and worsening the already exacerbated economy which is solely dependent on the federal government allocation.
It has become the usual tradition for elected governors in Nigeria to charter jets for their movement while in office. Most of these governors spend state fortunes to chatter private jets to further their ostentatious life styles.
More so, some of them do not want to be seen in commercial aircraft with their subjects.
Some of the state governors spend $5000 per hour, about N1.1million, depending on aircraft type.
The prices for an hour flight range from $6000, about N1.3million, $9000, about N2.01million and $7000, about N1.5million for an hour.
The flight schedules of most commercial airliners that are not flexible have made it attractive for some of the state governors who can afford private jets to acquire them while those who cannot to charter them (private aircraft).
The trend before now was for the governors to use the state resources to acquire private jets for their convenience while in office, forgetting that they were not using private jets before becoming governors and that they cannot afford to use such jets after leaving office.
In cases like this, state resources that could be used for other useful ventures are squandered on life of luxury just to chatter jets and for those that purchased out rightly for the maintenance, payment of landing and parking fee, payment of pilots and crew members.
For some of the governors, is a status symbol to own a private jet using the state resources to maintain their extravagant life styles.
But due to the current economic situation in the country most of the governors this time around are no more going for private jets in order not to be seen as being insensitive to the plight of their subjects, except for few others like governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state who is alleged to own a helicopter and the likes of the former governor of Rives state, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, former governor of Taraba state, Danbaba Suntai and former governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom state who bought a Gulfstream jet manufactured in 2011 with registration number N224BH, though the jet is Akwa Ibom State property among others. It would be recalled that former governor Amaechi on October 7, 2012 acquired a brand new Bombardier Global 5000 (N565RS) at the cost of $45.7 million (N7.4billion) for his exclusive use. Amaechi traded off the state’s Embraer Legacy 600, saying it was too expensive to maintain and about $5 million was added to the proceed of the traded plane that enabled the government to buy the latest airplane which has been handed over to the incumbent governor, Nyesom Wike.
The state government had earlier sold its Dash 8-Q200 aircraft to Cross River State for $6 million. Cross River State then leased the plane to Aero Contractors to undertake commercial flights to and from Obudu airstrip in the state.
The trend today among the governors is the craze for chattered jets as most of them think is absurd flying commercial aircraft with its flight delays and cancellations.
Not that some of the governors do not use their state resources again to buy private jets, some of them do, but use foreign registration numbers so that it cannot be traced to them and also to avoid the high insurance premium, because the country is classified as a high risk country. After that, they lease it to commercial operators who use it for chatter operations to make money for them.
Even when you look at the names on the registration of the aircraft, most of them cannot be traced to some prominent Nigerians who actually own them. After all, if the botched arms deal between Nigeria and South Africa did to fail; Nigerians may not have known that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor leased his aircraft out to Green Coast Produce Company Limited for the $9.3milion for business.
Most of the private jets brands used and chattered by most of these governors include, Falcons 7X, Bombardier Global 6000 , Bombardier Global Express 5000, Gulfstream G550, Gulfstream V , Bombardier Challenger 604, Embracer Legacy 650, Hawker 900XP, Gulfstream G450, LearJet, Hawker Siddley 125-800, Cessna and Falcons with prices ranging from N8.2billion, N7.3billion, N6.4billion, N4.8billion, N3.2b and N2.1b.
Before now, 75 per cent of these jets flying in the Nigerian airspace carry foreign registration numbers, a situation that has made it impossible for the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to regulate their activities as you find most of the jets with registration numbers from countries like U.S, South Africa, Brazil, Canada and Kenya instead of the Nigerian call sign 5N; and besides, 80 per cent of the pilots of these luxury jets are foreigners. But with the ultimatum given by the former minister of aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka to private jets carrying foreign registered numbers to revert to Nigerian registration numbers, while those using it for chatter operations should regularise their papers with NCAA with insurance covers and other requirement for commercial operations.
A chartered airline operator who wants to remain anonymous for some reasons disclosed that the prices to chatter some of these jets range from aircraft type.
He explained that a Beachcraft goes for $5000 per hour, about N1.1million, Hawker 125 goes for $6000 per hour, about N1.3million, a Gulfstream for $9000, about N2.01million, Challenger for $7000, about N1.5million and Dornier for $7000 which is about N1.5million for an hour.
According to him, if a governor who chatters the aircraft uses it for two hours, he pays double that amount depending on the type of jet because the longer the hours, the more money he pays, while for some, the jet will airlift them and later come back to pick them when the person is through with his assignment. More so, the usage is also dependent on schedules of the governors involved and the distance of their states to Abuja and Lagos where they often travel to for one political or business engagement.
He explained further that most of these governors go for private jets because they are faster than other aircraft types as a journey of one hour on a normal flight is reduced to about 45minutes on a private jet.
At the end of the year, the amount spent by some of these governor to chatter private jets for their convenience runs into hundreds of millions of naira and this affects the finances of the state’s leading to their inability to pay workers salaries.
