CBN delaying acquisition of 30 new aircraft–Minister

Category: Business Published on Thursday, 21 February 2013 05:00 Written by Chris Agabi, Lagos

Minister of Aviation Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah says Nigeria will acquire 30 new aircraft as soon as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gives the go ahead.

Princess Oduah told our reporter exclusively shortly after she received the 2012 Champion Man of The Year Award in Lagos Tuesday night that all the necessary approvals needed to acquire the 30 aircraft have been obtained from the presidency and the ministry of finance but the CBN is yet to come up with the details of how the airlines would access the aircraft and pay back.

The minister had told Daily Trust in September last year that the 30 aircraft would be acquired by December 2012.

The 30 aircraft acquisition is the ministry’s response to the previously failed aviation intervention fund.

With this new model, the federal government will be paying the aircraft manufacturers directly. The benefiting airlines would then pay back based on agreed terms and conditions. It is the terms and conditions that the CBN hasn’t concluded on.

“Very soon we will acquire the aircraft. Everything is ready. We are just waiting for the Central Bank of Nigeria. The president has approved all the policies that we have put in place,” she said.