The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has denied any involvement in the alleged sale of Nigerian-registered aircraft and confirmed that investigations into the claims are ongoing.
Michael Achimugu, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at NCAA, addressed the allegations during an appearance on TVC News’ “Beyond 100 Days” program on Tuesday night. He dismissed the media reports as unfounded, stressing the need for a thorough investigation into the matter.
“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 said.
The reports claimed that Nigerian-registered aircraft had been sold without proper documentation, which came in the wake of allegations surrounding a controversial aircraft recently smuggled from Nigeria to Iran.
The two aircraft in question—an Airbus A340-600 (registration number 5N-AAM) and a Boeing 737-300 (registration number 5N-YSM)—were allegedly smuggled by Azman Air to Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, in violation of international sanctions. These planes are reportedly stored in Tehran at Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport.
Achimugu clarified that for such sales to take place, the aircraft would 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 explained.
He also pointed out that the reports lacked 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.”
A key issue under investigation is the alleged deactivation of transponders on some aircraft. Achimugu mentioned that NCAA has reached out to the Civil Aviation Authority of Iran for clarification, as the incident reportedly occurred outside Nigeria’s 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 stated.
The NCAA insists that no evidence supports the claims of aircraft sales or deregistration at this time.
“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,” Achimugu affirmed.
He assured the public that the results of the investigation would be made available once concluded. “As soon as the results of the investigations are out, it will be out there,” he said.
