Enugu Released Less Than 7% Of N54.1Billion Budgeted For Aircraft Acquisition Before Benin Runway Excursi0n
Enugu Released Less Than 7% Of N54.1Billion Budgeted For Aircraft Acquisition Before Benin Runway Excursion
During the same period, Enugu Air generated N18.1 billion in revenue for the state between July and December 2025, according to the budget performance records.
Areview of Enugu State’s budget performance documents has revealed that the state government released only a fraction of the funds budgeted for aircraft acquisition for its state-owned airline, Enugu Air.
The budget records, reviewed by SaharaReporters, show that although Enugu Air generated a combined N29.6 billion for the state between 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, funding for the airline’s aircraft acquisition programme remained significantly below approved budgetary allocations.
The findings come days after an Embraer ERJ-170LR operated by Enugu Air veered off the runway while landing at Benin Airport. Although all passengers and crew members escaped unharmed, the 17.6-year-old aircraft was later declared a total loss and permanently withdrawn from service after sustaining extensive structural damage.
An analysis of the state’s budget implementation records shows that Enugu appropriated N19.1 billion for aircraft acquisition in its 2025 budget. However, by the end of the fiscal year, only N3.5 billion had been released for the programme, representing approximately 18.3 percent of the approved allocation.
During the same period, Enugu Air generated N18.1 billion in revenue for the state between July and December 2025, according to the budget performance records.
The pattern continued in 2026.
The state appropriated N35 billion for aircraft acquisition in the 2026 Appropriation Law. However, first-quarter budget implementation records show that no funds had been released for the programme as of the end of March, despite Enugu Air generating an additional N11.5 billion in revenue during the same period.
Overall, the state budgeted N54.1 billion for aircraft acquisition across the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years. Yet by the end of the period covered by the available budget performance records, which extend through the first quarter of 2026, only N3.5 billion had been released for the programme.
The records also show that the state made no budgetary provision for aircraft acquisition in 2024, according to the official budget performance documents reviewed by SaharaReporters.
Enugu Air
On Sunday, SaharaReporters reported that the Embraer ERJ-170LR involved in the Benin Airport runway excursion had been officially classified as a “written off” aircraft.
Aircraft records published by Planespotters.net and reviewed by SaharaReporters show that the 17.6-year-old aircraft, bearing Nigerian registration 5N-ENR and manufacturer serial number 17000274, has been designated a total loss, an aviation classification indicating that it sustained damage beyond economic repair and will never return to commercial service.
The records show that the aircraft, powered by two GE CF34-8E5 engines, was built by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer at its São José dos Campos facility. It first flew under the test registration PT-TQA before being delivered to Egyptair Express in March 2009, where it entered service as SU-GDH in a 76-seat all-economy configuration.
The aircraft was transferred to Egyptair in November 2019 before being withdrawn from service and placed in storage in Cairo between 2020 and 2025.
In February 2025, it was re-registered in Nigeria as 5N-ENR and leased to XE Jet. It subsequently joined Enugu Air, continuing operations under XE Jet until March 16, 2026.
The budget performance records, coupled with the loss of one of Enugu Air’s aircraft, have renewed scrutiny of the state’s funding of its aircraft acquisition programme, particularly as the airline continues to generate billions of naira in revenue for the Enugu State Government.
