The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has refused to comment on the registration status of the private jet that was impounded by the South African Government on money laundering charges.
When contacted on Wednesday, a Spokesperson for the NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, said he didn’t have the details on if the jet was registered.
He said, “I don’t have the details. Those who should know are not on ground.” But he refused to give out names.
When contacted, NCAA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, was indisposed and could not comment on the issue.
However, a top source in the ministry, who did not want to be quoted because he was not permitted to speak on the issue, said that the private jet in question was not registered.
The source said, “I can confirm to you that most private jets in the country are not registered here, they have foreign registrations. The truth is that when these aircraft/jets come into the country, the law does not allow them to land in more than one place until its been fully registered.
“But I can tell you that its not the case here. The owners refuse to register them, because they are trying to avoid paying custom duties on them.
“And so, a lot of these foreign jets come in and fly from place to place here, but that should not be the case, and the Authorities just see them and ignore them.”
He added that the fact that those jets were not registered in the country made it difficult for any sanctions to be put on them.
The Chief Executive Officer, Centurion Security and Safety Consult, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (Retd), told our correspondent that aircraft not registered in the country could not be sanctioned by the government.
He said, “In my opinion, there is nothing much that our country can do with regards to what is going on especially if the jet/planes are foreign registered.
“Again, the money that was seen with them was of foreign currency, and not Nigerian, and we are not sure if the crew is Nigerian, so, we are at the mercy of the foreign country that arrested them, perhaps, if we are in good relationship with South Africa, they may release the funds back to our government.”
Story and Comments: http://www.osundefender.org
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment