The House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets has announced plans to probe the alleged sale of two training helicopters by the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.
The committee noted that the urgency in the sales and concession of public assets at the twilight of the last administration calls for suspicion since the supposed approval was gotten from that administration.
The purported sale of two Bell 206L-3 helicopters which were public assets acquired for training pilots by the NCAT for N1.2 billion, was reported in the media on Sunday, July 30, 2023.
The chairman of the Committee, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, in a statement issued Monday, said the sale of the helicopters under the pretext of under-utilization by the authorities of the College of Aviation in March 2023 has now become a symptom of the worrying trend of asset stripping in all sector of the economy by all MDAs toward the twilight of the last administration.
He said this was despite the offer of the Nigerian Navy to acquire the same and possibly use it to address the security challenges facing the country in the area of oil pipeline vandalization and crude oil theft.
The chairman noted that the committee felt the assets could have been converted to the use of Nigerian Police to fight banditry and insurgency in the country.
Kuye stated: “The urgency in the sales and concession of public assets at the twilight of the last administration calls for suspicion since the supposed approval was gotten from that administration, and it is only right that the new regime is allowed to be part of the completion of the sale process if there are no hidden agendas.
“Therefore, the House Committee on Public Assets as constituted will investigate the sale of these important training national assets to ensure that due process is followed and that the country is not shortchanged in this deal.”
