Reps Demand Arrest Of NCAT Director, Auctioneer Over Sale Of 2 Helicopters

House of Representatives has ordered the arrest of the director of quality control, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria in Kaduna State and an unlicensed auctioneer by the police in the National Assembly for allegedly providing false information on oath and selling two helicopters for $1.2 million.

The House Committee on Public Assets asked the inspector-general of police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate NCAT’s alleged indiscriminate sale of two helicopters.

The committee’s resolution came after about five hours of discussion yesterday with the college’s management and other relevant bodies.

LEADERSHIP reports that the House Committee on Public Assets moved to launch the investigation on July 31, 2023, in response to media reports on the purported sale of two Bell 206L-3 helicopters, which were public assets acquired by NCAT for training pilots.

The chairman of the committee, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, expressed concern that the two choppers bought for $2.4 billion were sold for $1.2 billion without due process.

“We requested documents of any joint venture; there is no response to that whether you have one or you do not. We requested for a list of assets, including a comprehensive description and specifications of all your listed assets, rented apartments, including acquisition dates and methods and the current status and conditions of such assets. We cannot say specifically that you have satisfied all of these requests. Though you tried to answer some of them, your response is inadequate,” he said.

The lawmakers also queried the use of an unlicensed auctioneer who failed to provide the needed response to enquiries of the panel.

In his reaction, the coordinator of Nigerian Army Aviation, Musa Alkali, said the request by the Army to make use of the helicopters in the fight against terrorism was turned down and demanded that the two helicopters be recovered.