By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has questioned the implementation of defence budgets for the maintenance of Nigerian Air Force aircraft following Monday’s crash of an ATR-42 aircraft at Igbokoda, Ondo State.
The opposition party said the tragedy should not only prompt investigations into the immediate cause of the crash but also renewed scrutiny of how much money meant to keep military aircraft operational is actually released and spent.
In a statement released in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC described the crash as tragic and unfortunate and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
The party said official figures showed that as of December 2025, only N4.5 billion, representing about 13.98 per cent of the N34.71 billion budgeted for the maintenance of Nigerian Air Force aircraft, had been released.
By contrast, it said N20.74 billion was allocated for the maintenance of the Presidential Air Fleet, with N20.27 billion, representing 97.76 per cent, released within the same period.
“Put simply, while the fleet that serves a handful of people in power got almost every kobo it asked for, the fleet that serves and protects 200 million Nigerians was left with crumbs,” the ADC said.
The party stressed that it did not want to prejudice the ongoing investigation into the crash but said the incident provided another opportunity to examine the funding and maintenance of military equipment.
“While we do not intend to prejudice ongoing investigations into the cause of this tragic crash, we believe that this sad moment also provides an opportunity to raise, yet again, questions about the non-implementation of the defence budget and the perennial neglect of military equipment,” it said.
The ADC said the safety of military personnel should receive the same level of attention as the safety of political leaders.
“The safety of the President matters. But what also matters is the safety of the pilots and airmen who put their lives on the line in defence of the country. Patriotism does not replace spare parts, and condolence messages do not take the place of accountability,” the party maintained.
The party therefore called for the crash investigation to go beyond determining the immediate cause of the accident to examining the maintenance of defence equipment, particularly the Nigerian Air Force fleet.
It also demanded an audit of maintenance expenditure and budgetary releases to determine whether funds appropriated for the upkeep of military aircraft were released and properly utilised.
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