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Reps question sale of NCAT helicopters, order auctioneer’s arrest

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, ordered the immediate arrest of an alleged unlicensed auctioneer and  Director of Quality Control of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology for allegedly providing false information on oath, over the sale of two helicopters at $1.2m

The House Committee on Public Assets called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun,  to take over the investigation of the alleged indiscriminate sale of two helicopters by the NCAT.

The resolution of the committee was sequel to a five-hour interface with the management of the college and other relevant bodies.

In December 2023, the House launched an investigation into the state of public assets in the country.

The committee’s mandate includes the recovery of moribund public assets within and outside Nigeria and unraveling the reasons behind the hurried sale of two helicopters without the approval of the Federal Executive Council  a few days to the end of the Buhari administration in 2023

Present at the interface were the management team of NCAT, representatives of the Nigerian Army and others relevant to the investigation.

The chairman of the Committee, Ademorin Kuye,  expressed worries that the two choppers bought at $2.4bn were sold at $1.2m without due process.

“We requested documents of any kind of joint venture, there is no response on whether you have one or you do not have one.

“We requested a list of assets, including 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 responses are not adequate,” the lawmaker said.

The committee also faulted the alleged use of an unlicensed auctioneer who failed to provide a needed response to inquiries.

In his reaction, the Coordinator of the 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.

He demanded that the two helicopters should be recovered.

A member of the committee, Midala Balami, described the documents submitted to the committee as false.

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