Grounding Of Amaechi’s Plane, Political Witch-Hunt – ACN

Action Congress of Nigeria on Monday described the grounding of the Rivers State Government’s private aircraft by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority as “a glaring case of political witch-hunt”.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the action was an abuse of national institutions and a pointer to what lies ahead for “all perceived enemies of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration”.

According to the party, NCAA, which is supposed to carry out its duties without political interference, has become a tool in the hands of “vindictive politicians”.

ACN said the reasons given for grounding the plane had exposed the action of some mischief-makers.

The party said, “First, the plane was ostensibly grounded in Akure because the pilot did not declare the flight’s manifest to the appropriate authorities. Then it was said the plane’s clearance certificate had expired, hence it was banned from flying in the Nigerian airspace. How low can a government sink just to get at a perceived enemy?

“The questions that arise, therefore, are has the clearance certificate for the plane really expired? When did it expire? Was this communicated to the Rivers State Government before the plane was grounded? If so, when,  and if not, why not? In any case, would the NCAA have acted with so much alacrity if the plane had belonged to a state whose governor has no political differences with President Jonathan?

Source: Punch Nigeria

“While the NCAA must be free to carry out its regulatory duties without hindrance, it must be careful not to be seen to be acting on the orders of politicians. If this is the new modus operandi of the NCAA, then the nation is in trouble, and must be ready to see the reversal of the positive strides recorded in the aviation sector in the past few years.”

The party added that while the political crisis that had torn apart the Peoples Democratic Party and turned the President against his fellow party men was not the business of anyone outside the party, the ACN was compelled to speak when such issues affect the nation’s institutions.

ACN warned those in position of authority to realise that any abuse of national institutions in their quest to settle political scores could cause problems in the polity.