Traclk UpNews
24 November 2022
Aviation authorities in the Nigeria disagreed have disagreed over alleged grounding of the aircraft meant to take the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Ahmed, to Ibadan, Oyo State for the party’s campaign rally.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigerian, FAAN, in its reaction, said it was not aware of any such grounding of aircraft meant to fly the Labour Party team.
According to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, spokesperson, Sam Adurogboye, told Vanguard that the agency did not ground any aircraft as reported.
He said: “I understand NCAA did not ground any aircraft today (yesterday). The aircraft being said to be grounded is mere sensationalism.
“The reason is that the flight crew made an air return soon after takeoff and had issues they needed to come back and correct.
“This is what is termed as safety precautionary flight. Let’s be careful not to drag NCAA into politics in its operations. Our mandate is to ensure the safety of all aircraft operating in Nigeria airspace, regardless of whom they carry.he said.
The party had alleged that the aircraft was grounded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by those it described as ”powers that be”, but the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, which is the regulatory agency, said no plane was grounded, adding that the pilot of the aircraft only made an air return after noticing some faults in the plane.
Diran Onifade, head of media for the LP campaign, said in a statement yesterday that the Obidient plane was grounded for “regulatory reasons”, and asked supporters of the party to ignore “mischievous rumours” suggesting the plane was impounded.
