The controversial Caverton Helicopters flight into Port Harcourt on Tuesday “was approved legally, lawfully and correctly”, aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, said Wednesday at the daily briefing on the deadly Covid-19 virus in Abuja.
Sirika, who was responding to questions as to the legality of the flight for which 10 officials of the airline including two pilots have been remanded in custody by the River State government, said flight operations in Nigeria were on the Exclusive List and that Governor Nyesom Wike was wrong to have arrested the airline officials.
“Those flights were approved lawfully, legally and correct. So yes, we will do everything lawful and legal and reasonable to get those pilots back and operations will continue in national interest. We have the authority and being exclusively on the Exclusive List and we have the powers in civil aviation, guided by the Civil Aviation Act 2016 approved such flights.
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“The Civil Aviation is on exclusive list item number three. So no other person but the federal government has authority to legislate upon it. So also, the Nigerian Air Force, Armed Forces are also on Exclusive List, there is no other person that has the legal rights to legislate upon it”, he said.
The minister further stressed that the approval of the flight and other flights are for national interest and for the purpose of improving the national economy.
“Whether we have approval for the flight, yes we did and we did in national interest. All of these flights are for the purposes of improving the national revenue to which Rivers State is the greatest beneficiary.
“So those flights by Caverton, Aero Contractor, Arik, Bristol were for national interest and to improve national revenue. At a time where oil has gone below $30 per barrel and the cost of production is $30, in the wisdom of President Muhammadu Buhari he thought that this be allowed so that the nation will not be crippled and national revenue will not be lost”, he explained further.
According to him, “the Air force officer who jumped the commander in Chief, Chief of Defence Staff and ignored them, who jumped the Chief of Air Staff and ignored him, to call a governor to come into the property of the federal government of Nigeria to make an arrest, exhibited dangerous ignorance and gross incompetence”.
