It gets worse: FG bans Amaechi’s aircraft from flying in Nigeria

The Federal Government is certainly not taking the airplane grounding saga lightly as reports indicate that the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has banned the Rivers state-owned Bombardier aircraft from flying in Nigeria’s airspace.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi was on Friday stranded at the Akure Airport after attending the burial of the Ekiti Deputy Governor, Olufunmilayo Olayinla who died of cancer recently.
Amaechi was on his way back to Port Harcourt when aviation authorities denied his crew permission to take off based on the premise that his pilot has refused to declare the flight manifest according to aviation regulation.

Things degenerated further on Saturday when the Acting Director General of the NCAA, Benedict  Adeyinka, the Director of Airworthiness and Standards, announced the suspension of the plane from Nigeria’s airspace, saying its clearance certificate had since expired.

“The controversial aircraft on the service of Governor Rotimi Amaechi is operating illegally in the country,” Adeyinka reportedly said.

“The aircraft, a bombardier –BD700, global express with registration no N565 RS has its clearance approval expired since Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013.

“By our records, the last flight clearance for this aircraft was approved for operation on Thursday, March 28, 2013 on Accra-PH –Accra and to terminate on April 2, 2013. With this development, the aircraft has exceeded the extra two days or 48 hours leeway for it to leave the country.”

The NCAA official further noted that “while still operating illegally, the aircraft has been sighted in several places including Owerri and Akure.”

The aviation agency went on to ground the aircraft wherever it is presently located in the country saying: “Consequently, this aircraft in reference is hereby grounded at any airport that is located right now in the country.”

Observers believe the airplane saga is a fallout of the increasingly tense relationship between the Presidency and Governor Amaechi whose political ambition is seen as a threat to President Goodluck Jonathan’s political calculations in the 2015 elections.

We shall continue to watch developments to see who blinks first in this ‘war’ of the political titans.