BREAKING: Tinubu’s government to borrow $618 million to buy fighter jets and ammunition from Italy

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has approved a loan of about $618m from a group of financiers to procure six fighter aircraft and ammunition for the Nigerian Air Force.....Read Full Article>>

This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in Abuja on Wednesday following the conclusion of the FEC meeting presided by President Tinubu. Idris, who stood in for the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said, “From the Honorable Minister of Finance, who is away on official duty in the US. I’m going to let you know what those FEC approvals are. “The first one is that there have been approvals for some contracts, about seven of them for the Nigerian custom service.

The next one is that there’s an approval for an agreement for the elimination of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and prevention of tax evasion and avoidance between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

“The third one is an approval to obtain a credit facility in a sum of 443,330,781.49 euros and another 141 million US dollars from a group of financiers for the procurement of six units of M346 fighter aircraft and ammunition for the Nigerian Air Force.

And the last one from the Federal Ministry of Finance is the approval for signing of an agreement for the elimination of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Botswana.”

The Air Force previously stated that the first three jets are expected to arrive by early 2025, with the remaining deliveries continuing through mid-2026.

A high-level delegation, led by Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, had earlier met with executives from Leonardo S.p.A., the manufacturer, in Rome to finalize the deal.

The company confirmed the delivery timeline, with the first three jets arriving by early 2025 and the rest by mid-2026.

The company confirmed that the first three M-346 jets are expected to arrive by early 2025, with the remaining deliveries continuing through mid-2026.

The Federal Government has significantly increased spending on defense and security in recent years to address various security threats nationwide, allocating N3.3 trillion to the defense sector for the 2024 fiscal year.

In the Northeast, Boko Haram insurgency persists, though the group has been considerably weakened over the past decade. In the Northwest, banditry continues to disrupt economic activities, particularly farming, in states like Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina.

Meanwhile, the South faces challenges from kidnapping and secessionist movements in the Southeast, which have disrupted business operations. In the Niger Delta, crude oil production remains low due to persistent oil theft.

The impact of insecurity across the country has nearly crumbled Nigeria’s economy with the oil and agricultural sectors the most impacted.

The World Bank’s food security report for Nigeria earlier this year projected that seven northern states would experience severe food security challenges due to rising food inflation and insecurity in key agricultural areas.

In the Northeast, the Boko Haram insurgency has devastated food production, destroying farmlands on a large scale and killing farmers. Recently, the global lender stated that Nigeria is one of the countries most impacted by food insecurity as food inflation crossed 40% earlier in June 2024.

On the other hand, Nigeria’s crude oil production continued to fall below the OPEC-designated quota. In September, average daily crude oil production stood at 1.35 million barrels.