A casual staff scandal is currently rocking the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF), in Abuja, as top officers subject over 50 junior workers to very unpalatable working conditions and pay them outrageous wages.
Pointblanknews.com investigations reveal that despite receiving billions every year for maintenance, and wages, the top officials of the PAF have since 2006 placed scores of junior staff on between N18,000 and N25,000 a month, as wages.
They are categorized as “Non Established Staff”. They include cleaners, gardeners, cooks, artisans, drivers, stewards, clerks, and catering assistants.
An example of a typical fund received by the PAF a year is this. Between May 2015 and November 2015, PAF claimed it spent N2.3 Billion for maintenance, salaries and repayment of old debts.
Checks by Pointblanknews.com revealed that in the middle of the scandal are the PAF Commandant, Air Commodore Saddiq Kaita, and Group Captain John Laoye, (Wing Chief Engineer). In separate telephone interviews, both men denied any wrong doing.
It was also gathered that a couple of officers in the PAF who have expressed dismay at the practice, have been victimized by AVM Kaita, using his contacts in the Ministry of Defence and the offices of the Chief of Defence Staff, and Chief of Air Staff.
One of such officers is E.U Ebong who, for a long time, prevailed on the management to change the status of the junior workers. He was transferred from the PAF.
Pointblanknews.com sources hinted that for years, the workers, backed by some concerned officers, made several appeals to the top brass in charge, to convert their casual staff status to full term employment, with all the necessary benefits. Their appeals fell on deaf ears.
But in January, a list under the sub head “Eligibility Status of Non-Established Staff” was compiled. The management gave them the impression that they were working on converting the affected staff to permanent staff, and assured them that as soon as funds are made available it will be done.
But till date, the fat cats at the PAF, are still running the place like a plantation.
Group Captain Laoye maintained that the allegations are false and that the junior workers get more than what were listed in the document apparently prepared by them, and marked ‘Restricted’ He said “ I can tell you they earn more than what you have on that document. My wife is a graduate, works in the civil service, some of them earn same as her, but I am not going to discuss this on the phone”
Laoye who declined to say how much the casuals staff got, or what his wife’s take home is, said we should officially write the PAF for their whole side of the story
´We can’t saying this on the phone, I think it is best you write to the PAF officially it is better handled officially”
The Commandant, Keita, told Pointblanknews.com “You say you are Pointblanknews.com in New York, ok, Churchill. You can send one of your reporters to my office. I think we can sit down and talk about this. Nothing is hidden here and I can assure you. We are not doing anything wrong here. We can talk about this next week from Wednesday”
Ebong, the officer who had complained about the status of the junior workers before he was moved, was reluctant to talk about the allegations when Pointblanknews.com called him on telephone. He said “Please I don’t know you so I am not obliged to talk about it with you”
Air transport for Nigeria’s President and senior government officials is provided by a special unit of the Nigerian Air Force called the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) with the aid of 10 aircraft.
The inventory of the PAF is made up of:
- 1× 737 BBJ
2. 1× G550
3. 1× G500
4. 2× Falcon 7X
5. 1× HS 4000
6. 2× Agusta139
7. 2× Agusta 10
The Nigerian Air Force maintains a Boeing 737 Business Jet (737 BBJ) as a means of transport for the President of Nigeria. The plane is known as “Eagle One” and is marked NAF-001. The national colors of the Nigerian Flag (Green and White), are painted in long horizontal stripes along the base of the white fuselage. The “NIGERIAN AIR FORCE” is written on the side of the aircraft, and the Seal of the President of Nigeria is embossed on the tail.
The budget of the PAF has always been shrouded with controversies, as no one can say for certain how much it cost taxpayers to maintain the PAF. According to Shehu Garba, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, between May 2015 and November 2015, N2.3 billion Naira, was spent on maintenance of the PAF. This amount, he said, included salaries and repayment of old debts.
The Nigerian Presidential Air fleet is being maintained by over 10 billion Naira budget yearly.
