Air Force acquires 22 aircraft to fight Boko Haram, other crimes

CHIEF of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said yesterday that 22 aircraft have been added into the inventory of Air Force to support on-going military operations across the country, particularly the fight against Boko Haram terrorists.

Air Marshal Abubakar said as at July 2015, the aircraft serviceability status of the Air Force was below 60 per cent.

He added that as at date, the aircraft serviceability status has improved beyond 80 per cent.

Abubakar spoke while opening the NAF Finance Training Workshop with the theme: “Strengthening the NAF Finance specialty for efficient service delivery in support of NAF operations”, at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja.

The Air chief, who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Air Vice Marshal M. A. Mohammed, said the NAF has been able to deploy its platforms in support of military operations through prudent management of resources.

He added that the Air Force was striving to improve on its present status and has complied with measures put in place by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to ensure transparency and accountability in governance.

“In line with the anti-corruption drive of Mr. President, the Air Force has complied with measures put in place by the Federal Government to aide transparency in government’s financial transactions such as the Treasury Single Account, Government Integrated Financial Management Information System as well as the ongoing biometric data capture for the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, just to mention a few,” Air Marshal Abubakar said.

He added: “The recent feats achieved by the Service cost a lot of money. For the government to continue providing the necessary funds to support Nigerian Air Force operations, it behooves on you to continue to maintain high level of integrity as finance personnel in the management of these public funds.

“It is pertinent to state that despite a decline in governmental allocation, the Nigerian Air Force alongside sister Services have been able to achieve commendable successes in counter-insurgency and the fight against armed banditry plaguing various regions of the country.

“The Air Force has been able to effectively deploy its platforms to these areas in support of sister Services. This much was achieved through prudent management of resources allocated to the Service and strict compliance with procurement laws.”

Accountant-General of the Federation Ahmed Idris, in his remarks, said deficit financing of the nation’s budgets over the years have remained a challenge in tackling various commitments of government.