The Federal Government has approved the sum of N3.4 billion for the procurement of an aircraft by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“Tthe Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning presented a couple of memos for which approvals were obtained. The first one was for the award of contract for the procurement of a Cessna Caravan aircraft by the Nigeria Customs in the sum of N3,447,442,710 inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a delivery period of 12 months,” he said.
He said the aircraft will be used for air surveillance to curb the activities of smugglers.
“This aircraft is an addition to the current fleet in the Customs Service and it is aimed towards combating smuggling activities and enhancing intelligence gathering. It is also to provide aerial surveillance and reconnaissance for the Customs across our borders,” Agba said.
He further disclosed that the council granted approval for the implementation of the Nigeria Customs Service modernisation project.
He said the concessionaire is Bergman Securities Consultant and Suppliers Limited as the project sponsor, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as lead financier while Huawei Technologies is the lead technical service provider.
He said the concessionaire has furnished the government with $9million security from the satisfactory performance of the project.
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