₦airaland Forum

PREMIUM TIMES can report that barring any change in plans, the Nigerian government will purchase an Airbus A330 aircraft seized from an unnamed Arab prince and businessman who could not pay hundreds of millions of dollars he owed a German bank.

Presidency officials have kept their lips shut about plans to buy a new presidential jet. However, this newspaper has obtained information that the government has already identified an aircraft for purchase but is scrambling for funds to consummate the transaction.

The identified aircraft is said to be a repossessed one recovered from a troubled oil sheikh who used the aeroplane as collateral for a loan he obtained from an unidentified German bank to buy it. When a bank loan is taken to purchase an aircraft, the aircraft is usually pledged as collateral.

Our sources said the bank repossessed the aircraft from the debtor businessman but found it challenging to sell due to its executive customisation.

The aircraft is now in the possession of L & L International LLC, an American aviation firm based in Miami, Florida. L & L International LLC is trying to help the German bank sell it to the Nigerian government.

The multi-engine prestige jet, which has an elaborate VIP configuration, is said to be worth $600 million. But the Nigerian government is offering “a little over $100 million.” Our sources say they are unsure if that offer is acceptable to L & L International LLC.

“If L & L International accepts the amount offered, it will be an excellent deal for Nigeria,” one of our sources, an aviation expert, said. “Nigeria can resell it twice or triple that amount. And it is a perfect aircraft.” An L & L International spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES Thursday that he has no details to share concerning the transaction.

Another source said AMAC Aerospace AG, a Swiss aviation company, is coordinating the Nigerian government’s purchase of the aircraft. AMAC Aerospace AG has a long-standing aircraft maintenance contract with Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet (PAF).

According to the source, the company identified the aircraft and recommended that the Nigerian government purchase it, citing its affordable cost and reliability. The company is now coordinating the purchase by liaising with L & L International and Nigeria’s presidential air fleet officials. When contacted, Alexis Ott, AMAC Aerospace’s director of maintenance sales and key account management, declined comment, saying he could not discuss his company’s business relationships with unrelated parties.

Multiple presidential sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the government is now scrambling to find the funds to buy the aircraft. While the government has put three of the aircraft in the fleet for sale, it is believed that they may not fetch enough money to settle the cost of the aircraft to be acquired as a replacement.

An official said some of the money to purchase the plane would come from the N180 billion contingency fund provided for a service-wide vote in the 2023 supplementary budget. On Thursday, the National Assembly approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to extend the lifespan of the 2023 supplementary budget to December 31.

“The government did not envisage the purchase of aircraft this year, so there is no provision for it in the 2024 budget,” one official said, asking not to be named because he has no permission to speak on the matter. “But with the airworthiness of some aircraft in the presidential air fleet now suspect, at least one aircraft will have to be replaced to resolve that emergency.”

In a June 4 report forwarded to the presidency after an investigative hearing, the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence asked the federal government to immediately procure two aeroplanes for Messrs Tinubu and Shettima to secure the transportation of the country’s top officials.

The House Committee’s call immediately triggered widespread criticism from some Nigerians, who questioned the wisdom of buying new aeroplanes when Nigeria faces severe economic hardship.

However, a few days later, the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence supported the recommendations made by its House of Representatives counterpart. The Chairman of the Committee, Shehu Buba, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES exclusively from Saudi Arabia, where he performed this year’s hajj, said not quickly overhauling the presidential air fleet could endanger the president’s and his deputy’s lives

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https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/707759-exclusive-presidential-jet-nigerian-govt-to-buy-foreclosed-aircraft-from-german-bank.html

Automated offside tech basically knocked out Denmark

raumdeuter:
Imagine Trump saying let's not act like children?
Dem dey argue their golf prowess and if he can carry his bag
Mehnn na wa oh

I won’t forget these lines: “we got H2O”, and “I never had se’x with a IndecentStar”😂

I watched the debate. Both candidates did not inspire confidence at all, especially Biden

Nomyth:
How did Ghana beat us in the men 4×100M again?

That's 2ce in a roll since the AAG.

Complacency

African Athletics Update:

Although Nigeria women’s 4x400m relay team won the gold in Douala, Cameroon, their winning time was not enough to secure an Olympics spot🥹

Nonetheless, Nigeria will feature four relay teams at the Paris Olympics: men and women’s 4x100m, men’s 4x400m, and the mixed 4x400m relays..

Since the inception of the African Athletics Championships in 1979, Nigeria is the most successful nation in the women's 4x100m.

Team Nigeria 🇳🇬 over the years, have won 12 GOLD medals since winning the first one at the 1989 edition held in Lagos.

The last time an African country defeated Nigeria was 18years ago in Mauritius. They have won all the 4x100m races since then, except in 2016 when Nigeria didn't field a team.

Women's 4x100m...na Naija get am!💪💪

**copied

Wow! Austria have won a a group at a major tournament for the first time in their history!

So England, France, and The Netherlands are through to the round of 16, following Albania’s loss to Spain

Albania’s main problem is poor decision-making in and around the attacking third.

BascoVanVeli:
that's wat it looks like.

For real😂

BascoVanVeli:
Group A
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
New Zealand
Nigeria

The Flamingoes are already thru to the quarterfinals

TheLequte:
It’s almost as if the VAR assistants think it’s their job to find reasons to disqualify a goal. And the reasons are very picky at this point.

Exactly. They’re definitely going against the “clear and obvious error” standard that was the whole rationale of introducing VAR in the first place. I’m 100% sure that no Romanian fan would have seriously complained if the Lukaku effort was allowed to stand.

TheLequte:
Scratch that.

He’s wronged some VAR referees. He’s off by the skin off his knee? Give me a break.

Yeah. This is just ridiculous at this point.
We seriously need a change in the offside law next year…

In a way, it was probably a good idea to hold the WAFCON next year, because it may have been too tasking on the players to feature in two major tournaments within the space of 6 months..

drisham:
I said it that this Rafa lmao too useless

Thank God we didn't buy him

Imagine accumulating 2 yellow cards for diving

😂😂As in! Bro has zero composure when he is a 50-50 with a defender

raumdeuter:
Senior adviser to Emilokan

PDP dey chop under APC

This thing don dey favor you and your family be that

Yes oh 😂😂

It looks like Abuja read my comment on this thread a few days ago, and decided to take heed to my advice on selling some of the presidential jets😁

Obrigardo:
Convicted felon trump will certainly get destroyed this fall, so zendi, don't fall for the felon's stop the steal part 2. Your orange smelly overlord is in no shape to win the presidential election of the most powerful country on earth.

So stop the "election is already decided" shit.

But I seriously if Attorney Conway’s strategy would work, 2-3 months down the line, when the polls still show a neck-n-neck race despite Trump’s conviction almost two weeks ago

Chelsea vs Man City as our first match 🙆🏾🙆🏾😂

The draw ceremony for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be held on Saturday, June 22, in the Dominican Republic.

Here are the 4 pots for the draw:

Pot 1 - Dominican Republic, Spain, Japan, North Korea

Pot 2 - United States, Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand

Pot 3 - Nigeria, Colombia, England, Zambia

Pot 4 - South Korea, Ecuador, Kenya, Poland

[quote author=bemeruca post=130504613]PDPGuy, raumdeuter and budaatum what do you guy think about this comment from a black church in detroit.

BREAKING: Black Detroit pastor thanks Donald Trump for being the first President to come to the hood. "President Obama never came to the hood. President Biden went to the big NAACP dinner but he never came to the hood—so THANK YOU!" pic.twitter.com/pE8BfQs9Gs

— George (@BehizyTweets) June 15, 2024

not sure how factual that claim is

raumdeuter:
https://www.rt.com/business/599092-california-minimum-wage-layoffs/

PDPguy there you have it, impact of forced minimum wage increase

Yup. We all feared those massive job losses as a major side effect of jacking up fast food minimum wages to $20/hr. Who knows whether that 10,000 would double to 20,000 before the end of August, as some of these restaurants are now engaging robots to work as servers

GeneralDae:
Is it that Ghana didn’t participate in the qualifiers?

They did, but obviously were eliminated in the earlier rounds

Happy birthday 🎉

VVD wins his first ever Euros match 😁

TheLequte:
Really nice goal. Was that his first touch in the game?

Yes

naptu2:
Africa's representatives at the 2024 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup are:

Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya.

I believe Kenya will be making their debut at a FIFA women’s tournament, as a result of this qualification

basilico:
Voting machines. Elon Musk , Kennedy Jr.

Paper ballots that democrats don't want. They want to be rid off Trump to "save our democracy"

Trump’s single-voting day proposal would either need the concurrence of all the 50 state-level secretaries of state and/or a federal constitutional amendment, before it becomes law. Besides, many would oppose a single voting day because of many other extraneous factors that are familiar to most of us 🤷🏾‍♂️

Congrats to the Flamingoes on their qualification to the FIFA U-17 WC

GOAL! 63 mins
Nigeria 2-0 Liberia (6-1 agg)

Chidi Harmony nets her 12th goal in the qualifiers!

liveLongNprospa:
I actually understand

The presidency should sell the 19-yr old aircraft, and in its place, purchase an A330-900 neo Business Jet.
The A330 neo (business jet) is a relatively new jet with a range exceeding 9,000nm, and would be cheaper to maintain.