Chairman of the committee, Nkiruka Chidubem Onyejeocha, said NCAA have no business keeping the cars, stressing that the contract terms between NCAA and Coscharis Motors should be cancelled and the money recovered from the supplier.

She made this call while on an oversight visit to the agencies at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

“What we said about the bullet proof cars is that the contract should be cancelled and that they do not have any business keeping the cars. It should be returned to the supplier and then recover our money,” adding that due process was not followed in the contract.

Earlier, the acting Director-General of NCAA, Engr. Benedict Adeliyela, said that the cars were parked at the NCAA’s office in Abuja.

Commenting on the concession agreement entered into by Federal Aviation Agency Nigeria, FAAN, and First Bank, Onyejeocha said the concession agreement was not favourable to FAAN, noting that the bank was not supposed to be doing revenue automation at the airport.

She was reacting to the statement of the Managing Director of FAAN, Saleh Donuma, that FAAN did not have any relationship with Avitech, who is the company responsible for airport automation.

According to Donuma, First Bank was the party that partners with Avitech to be collecting money from the airport on behalf of the bank.

Onyejeocha said the house was not satisfied with the concession agreements, saying “we have a strong opinion about some concessions, especially the one with Avitech.

“They said they were not directly in contact with Avitech, that it is First Bank that they know. They know that we are not satisfied and that is why they said that the zero car park had been terminated, which means their concerns is also our concern.

“On the issue of Bi-Courtney and Meavis, I think it will be better than what we have with First Bank. That was why during the bullet-proof issue, you already access more than N600 million from First Bank because they are collecting your money. So it is wrong.

“You said it with your mouth that Avitech is a technical partner to First Bank. The bank collects revenue. Do we need a bank for automation? A bank cannot come and do automation in airport. It simply means you just exist.

“You are just sitting here and your money goes somewhere else. So I do not know how you will balance that. If we say Meavis is bad business, First Bank should be the worse. They do not have any business collecting our revenue.

“I know that you should have somebody that should be collecting revenue and paying to the bank and that person is answerable to you since you do not have direct relationship with Avitech. It means that something is wrong because you said you do not have a relationship with Avitech that you only have relationship with First Bank.

“How will FAAN have a relationship with a bank apart from keeping of your money? There cannot be even proper accounting of the revenue because as they are progressing, you are retrogressing.”

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A statement by Overland’s Deputy General Manager, Media, Sam Adurogboye, said the company successfully went through the process and had met the requirements set by the regulatory authority.

“Overland Airways, having successfully undergone the process and met the requirements, the regulatory authority has, therefore, re-issued a new Air Operators Certificate (AOC) to the airline,” the statement said.

The statement quoted the Acting Director-General of NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka, as saying while presenting the certificate, that the organisation would continue to support the growth of the airline.

“Overland submitted the Pre-Application Statement of Intent (PASI), Formal Application, Document Evaluation – manuals were submitted and their training were inspected and approved before they were cleared to proceed to the next phase.

“The Base Inspection and Successful Evacuation Demonstration were conducted. Demonstration plan was approved while the flight demonstration was done for 50 mandatory hours as demo hours.

“I commended the tenacity of Overland Airways during the exercise. Our doors are open, as the regulatory authority. We are here to listen to you and provide you with solutions when you involve us in your challenges,” Adeyileka was quoted as saying.

He, however, said the agency would have zero tolerance for non-compliance with regulations.

“We cannot compromise safety and security. Our processes have been modified. If you have any misgiving concerning our regulations, you are free to interact with us.

“Some portions of the Regulation can be amended but will have to pass through a process. It has to be suitable for the airlines’ growth propensity, but it must not jeopardise safety,” it added.

The Managing Director of Overland, Capt. Edward Boyo, said that the AOC was the basis of the airlines’ existence.

“We want to thank the DG and his team. We are proud to say we enjoyed working with them. It was a tough road to traverse due to the professionalism of the certification team.

Boyo urged the NCAA to provide an enabling environment for a quantum number of airlines to come on stream in Nigeria, stressing that there are several routes that need to be opened up for more operators.

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The acting Director General of NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka, said the action was to enable the agency’s engineers and inspectors as well as engineers of the airline carry out checks on the aircraft.

The plane made an air return five minutes after take- off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, following a false fire alarm.

Smoke was noticed in the cabin triggering the alarm, spokesman for the airline, Oyibotha Obuke, said.

All the appropriate agencies including Airport fire fighters were promptly alerted and were ready for assistance on the tarmac by the time the plane landed.

All the 94 passengers on board were promptly evacuated without disrupting other flights at the airport and an alternative plane was provided for them to go to Abuja.

One of the passengers, Longe Olarenwaju confirmed that smoke was noticed on takeoff but by the time the pilot was returning for landing, the smoke had disappeared.

He commended the pilot for the professional way he handled the situation, which he said is a standard professional practice the world over.

The aircraft now parked at MMA 2 just returned from a major check three weeks ago.

The NCAA acting DG said yesterday that the agency’s engineers had opened up the panels of the aircraft to find out the cause of the fire alarm.

He said that findings so far suggested that the aircraft was in good order, and would be re-certified and released for operations after completion of the necessary checks.

He said the pilot acted in good faith by aborting the flight after passengers exhibited signs of panic, on board. “We prefer a false alarm to an incident. Air return does not constitute an emergency.

“The NCAA and its team of inspectors are visibly in the ramp at the airport carrying out routine inspection. Air return is a precautionary safety measure.”

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The agency made this clarification while making a presentation at the one day public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on Thursday in Abuja.

The public hearing is to enable the committee to investigate the purchase of two BMW armoured cars which has generated controversy in the last few weeks.

Similarly, the House Committee on Aviation summoned the Minister of Aviation to appear before it unfailingly on Tuesday Oct. 29 to explain her role in the purchase saga.

The House, on Oct. 22 sequel to a motion by the Minority Whip, Rep. Samson Osagie, mandated its Committee on Aviation to investigate the matter and report to it within one week.

Ayo Aderigbigbe, a Director in the BPP, who represented the Director-General of the agency, Emeka Eze told the committee that BPP was neither involved in the transaction by the NCAA nor the ministry.

He explained that the action of the NCAA in respect of the purchase of the said vehicles was outright violation of the provisions of the Act establishing the bureau.

Moreover, he said that any goods worth more than N100 million was beyond the approval limit of the NCAA, and must go to the Federal Executive Council for approval.

Also, the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Rep Nkiruka Onyejiocha and other members of the committee accused the NCAA of violating the provisions of the 2013 Appropriation Act.

The Representatives said that NCAA also violated the constitution of the country which stipulated the way public fund should be spent.

The House interrogated the Director-General of NCAA, Fola Akinkuotu and Joyce Nkemakolam, the former acting Director-General of the agency on the purchase of operational vehicles for the establishment.

However, it was discovered during the interrogation that the NCAA went beyond what was appropriated for it in the year 2013 budget.

Reps Jerry Manwe, Matthew Omegara, Zakari Mohammed and others observed that the National Assembly appropriated a sum of N240 million for NCAA for the purchase of 25 operational vehicles in the 2013 budget.

The lawmakers said that the officials of the agency went out of their way to commit the sum of N643 million for the purchase of 54 cars instead.

The lawmakers, who grilled the NCAA management team lamented that Nkemakolam demonstrated serious disregard to the National Assembly by neglecting its legislations.

The committee members were angry that Nkemakolam made approvals that were contrary to Acts of Parliament.

The committee was not satisfied with the presentation and responses of the officials of NCAA.

Subsequently, the committee mandated them to come back on Oct. 29 with bank statements from their operational accounts with the First Bank, Sterling Bank, UBA, FCMB, Zenith Bank and CBN.

The lawmakers also insisted that the minister of aviation must conclude or abandon her official engagement in Israel and appear before the committee next Tuesday as a matter of compulsion.

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