The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has denied any involvement in the alleged sale of Nigerian-registered aircraft, while announcing that investigations into the claims were ongoing.
The NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, addressed the issue during an interview on TVC News’ ‘Beyond 100 Days’ programme on Tuesday night. He described the allegations as “unfounded” and stressed the need for 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 controversy began following media reports alleging that Nigerian-registered aircraft were sold without proper documentation. The claims followed a separate report about two Nigerian aircraft allegedly smuggled to Iran and sold to Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, in violation of international sanctions.
The aircraft in question are Airbus A340-600 with registration number 5N-AAM and Boeing 737-300 with registration number 5N-YSM
The aircraft were reportedly stored at Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran.
Achimugu emphasised that for such sales to occur, the aircraft must first be deregistered in Nigeria—something 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,” he explained.
The NCAA spokesperson further pointed out that the media 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.”
Another key issue under investigation was the alleged deactivation of transponders on the aircraft. Achimugu confirmed that the NCAA reached out to Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for clarification, as the alleged incident 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.
Reiterating the NCAA’s stance, Achimugu insisted there was no evidence to support the claims of aircraft sales or deregistration.
“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 results of the investigation would be made available as soon as the process was complete.
“As soon as the results of the investigations are out, it will be out there,” Achimugu stated.
