The controversy surrounding the grounding of Rivers State Governor RotimiAmaechi’s jet by the ministry of aviation heightened yesterday when the minister of aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, disclosed that the jet is not owned by theRivers State government as stated but owned by an American company.
But her claims was countered by the government of Rivers State who maintained that the aircraft belongs to the state under the name of the governor, RotimiAmaechi.
Making this claim yesterday at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Aviation and Justice in the National Assembly on the matter, the aviation minister also urged EFCC and ICPC to consider prosecuting owners and operators of the aircraft for alleged breach ofaviation rules.
She said the aircraft with registration number N565RS is listed on the U.S. Department of Transport (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration Registry.
She however argued that a notification letter was written to Caverton, an agent of ACASS, who aviation authorities recognise as the owner of the aircraft.
The response elicited angry responses from members of the panel, led by chairman of the joint committee, Hon. Ali Ahmed(PDP-Kwara).
Speaking on behalf of the government of Rivers State , secretary to the government of Rivers State, Feye George and his team accused aviationauthorities of acting a script against the state government .
Concluding the session, chairman of the committee asked the director of NCAA to furnish the committee with a comprehensive list of all registered private aircrafts, whether on ad-hoc basis or license, with names of the owners, whether leased or purchased, place of registration, dates of expiry and clearance details.
The agency has two days to provide the document.