The federal government has approved the sum of N2.29 billion for the procurement and assemblage of training aircraft and simulator at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Kaduna state.
The minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, January 18, The Punch reports.
According to Sirika, the first set of the assembled aircraft would be procured from Hungary, assembled in Nigeria, and will be put into use before the end of the Buhari-led administration in May.
The minister’s comments comes 17 months after the federal government expressed interest to partner with the Hungarian aircraft manufacturing firm to establish an assembling plant for light airplanes locally.
During an inspection visit to the Magnus Aircraft headquarters in Pogany, Hungary, in August 2021, the minister said that the goal of the federal government is to locally assemble aircraft “from start to finish” before the current administration ends.
Sirika noted that the government chose Zaria because the existing college of aviation provides a ready facility which will save the cost of building another.
He added that situating the plant in Zaria further expands the capacity of NCAT as a federal government agency.
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