The Federal Government has allocated a cumulative N10.61bn for the overhaul of engines on the Gulfstream G550 aircraft assigned to Vice President Kashim Shettima over a three-year period, an analysis of appropriation bills from 2024 to 2026 shows.
The aircraft, registered as 5N-FGW, received the highest single allocation among all engine overhaul projects in the Presidential Air Fleet, accounting for 55 per cent of the N19.27bn total spent on engine maintenance across the fleet under the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Budget documents obtained and analysed by The PUNCH reveal the allocation for overhauling the vice president’s aircraft engines jumped from N1.24bn in 2024 to N5.51bn in 2025 a 345 per cent increase before settling at N3.86bn in 2026. Punch repoerted.
The 2024 Appropriation Bill listed the project with a status of “NEW” at N1.24bn, which became “ONGOING” with N5.51bn in 2025, and continued as ongoing with N3.86bn in 2026.
The 13-year-old Gulfstream G550, which flies under the call sign “Nigerian Air Force 2” when carrying the vice president, has suffered repeated technical faults that led to cancellations of Shettima’s international trips in the past.
In May 2024, Shettima was forced to abort his trip to the United States for the US-Africa Business Summit after a technical fault mid-flight, and earlier the same jet developed an oxygen leak in the Netherlands.
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Another trip to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa was cancelled in October 2024 after the aircraft was hit by a foreign object during a stopover at New York’s JFK Airport.
Presidency officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated the rising technical failures may have prompted urgent maintenance, driving escalating budget allocations.
Aside from the vice president’s aircraft, the FG also allocated funds for overhauling engines on two Falcon 7X jets (5N-FGV and 5N-FGU), which received N1.66bn in 2024, N3.13bn in 2025, and N2.19bn in 2026, totalling N6.98bn over three years.
A Gulfstream jet registered 5N-FGS received N1.68bn for engine overhaul in 2024 alone.
In total, engine overhaul projects across the Presidential Air Fleet consumed N4.58bn in 2024, N8.65bn in 2025, and N6.05bn in 2026, bringing the three-year aggregate to N19.27bn.
Budget patterns show engine maintenance costs peaked in 2025, a year after the Presidency took delivery of the N150bn Airbus A330, which the presidential spokesman said would “save Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs.”
While overhaul spending for older aircraft declined by 30 per cent in 2026 compared to 2025, routine maintenance allocations increased by 10 per cent, from N4.12bn in 2025 to N4.54bn in 2026.
Aviation experts say older aircraft naturally incur higher maintenance costs, noting that jets like the 13-year-old G550 require frequent, expensive overhauls as components near the end of their operational life.
Critics argue that Nigeria’s presidential fleet is disproportionately costly for a country facing severe fiscal constraints, with some saying the spending runs counter to expectations of frugality.
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The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence in 2024 had recommended procuring new aircraft for both the president and vice president, citing high maintenance costs and safety concerns.
While the president received the Airbus A330, no replacement was announced for the vice president’s aircraft, which continues to receive substantial maintenance allocations under the Tinubu administration.
At the time of reporting, the Presidency had not responded to inquiries about the specific nature of the engine work carried out on the aircraft.
The budget documents also show ongoing capital projects for the Presidential Air Fleet, including funding for hangar construction and infrastructure.
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