The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to take over the investigation into the alleged indiscriminate sale of two helicopters worth $2.4 billion by the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Assets, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, disclosed this during the resumed investigative hearing into the indiscriminate sale of the helicopters for $1.2 billion without following due process, which lasted for over five hours.
Recall that the House passed a resolution in December 2023 to initiate an investigation into the state of public assets in the country.
The House also mandated the Committee to recover all the moribund public assets within and outside Nigeria, estimated to be worth trillions of naira.
Appearing before the Committee are the management team of NCAT, representatives of the Nigerian Army, and others crucial to unravelling the reasons behind the hurried sale of two helicopters without the approval of the Federal Executive Council, just a few days before the end of the Buhari administration in 2023.
After putting all the NCAT officials and former NCAT Reactor, Alkali Moddibo, on oath, the lawmakers expressed grave concern over the unilateral decision of the college’s management to engage an unlicensed auctioneer who failed to provide the needed response to inquiries.
Meanwhile, authorities of the Nigerian Army, who frowned at the development, explained that the earlier request to make use of the two helicopters in the fight against terrorism was turned down.
In his presentation, Musa Alkali, Coordinator of Nigerian Army Aviation, who expressed concern over the refusal to sell the two helicopters to the Nigerian Army, urged the Committee to ensure the recovery of the two helicopters.
Worried by the development, Hon. Midaila Balami, who described the document presented by NCAT management as an afterthought, underscored the need for a thorough investigation into the transaction.
In his intervention, Hon. Kuye, who presided over the session, directed officials of the Nigeria Police and the National Assembly Command to immediately arrest the unlicensed auctioneer and NCAT’s Director of Quality Control for allegedly providing false information on oath.
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