PREMIUM TIMES
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.” A 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.
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