The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has denied involvement in the alleged sale of Nigerian-registered aircraft and announced ongoing investigations into the claims.
The PUNCH states that the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said this when he was featured on TVC News “Beyond 100 Days program” on Tuesday night.
Achimugu dismissed the media reports allegations as unfounded, emphasising the importance of a thorough investigation.
“These are weighty allegations that have been made. So the natural course of justice is to investigate these allegations. And you do not investigate any such story without speaking to the parties that have been named,” Achimugu stated.
The report from news platforms (not PUNCH) on Tuesday alleged that Nigerian-registered aircraft have been sold without proper documentation.
This came after a report about a controversial aircraft recently smuggled from Nigeria to Iran.
The two Nigerian registered aircraft were smuggled to Mahran Air by Azman Air.
The aircraft in question are an Airbus A340-600 with the registration number 5N-AAM and a Boeing 737-300 with the registration number 5N-YSM.
These planes are currently stored in Tehran at Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport in Iran, respectively.
They were allegedly sold to an Iranian airline in violation of international sanctions against Iran.
According to Foreign media, the Middle East Forum Observer has claimed Azman Air was among several companies allegedly involved in Mahan Air’s recent efforts to evade sanctions in Africa.
However, Achimugu clarified that for such sales to occur, the aircraft would first need to be deregistered in Nigeria, a process that has not occurred.
“As far as the NCAA is concerned, we have not been involved in the sales of any aircraft. Because to sell such aircraft, they need to have been deregistered here in Nigeria being Nigerian-registered aircraft. That has not been done here. So we need to investigate how any aircraft would have been sold,” he said.
The spokesperson further highlighted that the reports lack specific details.
“To the best of our knowledge, no such thing has happened yet. The reports we have read, just like you have read, did not mention any specifics. How were these aircraft deregistered before they were sold? We need to investigate. And these investigations are ongoing.”
“One key issue under scrutiny is the alleged deactivation of transponders on some aircraft. The NCAA has reached out to the Civil Aviation Authority of Iran for clarification, as the incident reportedly occurred outside Nigerian jurisdiction.
“But of particular interest is the issue of the turning off of the transponder. We have already written the Iranian CAA for clarification on that. If a transponder was turned off outside our jurisdiction, then the CAA or Air Traffic Control of that country is supposed to have complained to us. We have received no such complaints. So there is no way we would have known. So we are seeking clarification over that,” Achimugu explained.
The NCAA insists that no evidence currently supports claims of aircraft sales or deregistration.
He added, “There is no evidence of the sale of any aircraft anywhere yet. The story is just being put out there that says aircraft have been sold. There is no evidence to that effect. For those aircraft to be sold, they need to be deregistered in Nigeria. That has not been done. So we do not know that any aircraft have been sold. Like I said, it is under investigation. And we will find out what happened.”
He assured the public that the findings of the investigation would be made public. “As soon as the results of the investigations are out, it will be out there,” he stated.
