The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, has disclosed that the federal government (FG) has concluded plans to meet the Feb. 20 deadline for payment of $494 million meant for procurement of 12 A-29 Super Tucano Light-attack aircraft from U.S.
He made this known to State House correspondents after the meeting of National Security Council, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
He said the procurement agreement includes the aircraft, weapons, spare parts and facilities to support training and continuous servicing.
The minister, however, said federal government was looking into some of the stringent conditions attached to the procurement by the U.S. State Department.
Ali said: “One of the stringent measures is that we will start having the aircraft from 2020, which is two years from now.
“The U.S. State Department is also thinking of not allowing Nigerian technicians to be part of the production inspection.
“But this is what we normally do in defence contracts: we send our personnel to go and understudy, especially when it comes to specialised contracts.
“In Russia, our personnel are permanently based where the production is being done for this MI35 helicopters.”
