A-29 Super Tucano
Buhari’s govt rejects US conditions for sale of fighter jets
Published on January 26, 2018
By Wale Odunsi
President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government says it will not accept the conditions given by the United States to sell fighter jets worth $494 million to the country.
Mansur Dan-Ali, Minister of Defence, disclosed that part of the conditions for the 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets is that the sale will not be made until 2020.
Also, Nigerian technicians would not be trained by US and they will not be part of the maintenance crew.
In a chat with State House Correspondents after the security council meeting in Abuja on Thursday, Dan-Ali said: “These conditions, we will not accept.”
“They are also thinking of not allowing our technicians to be part of the production inspection.
“But this is what we normally do in all the defence contracts, we send our personnel to go and understudy, especially when it comes to specialized aircrafts like in Russia, our personnel are permanently based in where the production is being done for this MI35 helicopters.”
The minister added that the federal government plans to meet with the US ambassador to discuss the conditions.
“Payments will be made when the conditions are reduced,” he said.
Original post: dailypost.ng
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