The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has denied that it was involved in the alleged sale of Nigerian-registered aircraft.
Featuring on TVC News ‘Beyond 100 Days program’ on Tuesday night, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, disclosed that a probe into the claims has begun.
While calling the allegation unfounded, he harped on 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 denial comes following a report about a controversial aircraft recently smuggled from Nigeria to Iran.
According to the report, the two Nigerian registered aircraft were smuggled to Mahran Air by Azman Air and allegedly sold to an Iranian airline in violation of international sanctions against Iran.
Achimugu further shared that for such sales to occur, the aircraft would first need to be deregistered in Nigeria, a process that has not happened.
“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.
“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,” he added.