Why plane couldn’t fly to Ibadan for LP campaign – NCAA

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has denied grounding a plane billed to convey the members of the National Working Committee of Labour Party for their presidential campaign in Ibadan, Oyo State

The Head of Media Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, Diran Onifade had in a statement alleged that the NCAA stopped the plane from flying for what they said were “regulatory reasons”.

Responding however, Sam Adurogboye, said no plane was grounded as being alleged.

According to him, the plane couldn’t fly because the pilot discovered some faults with the aircraft.

“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.

“Presidential candidates of all parties in the country have been flying around and NCAA’s mandate is to ensure that every aircraft flying meets safety standard.

“We have been grounding planes not fit for flying before now. When former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was campaigning for a second term, he wanted to use a particular plane donated by a Nigerian. We noticed that the aircraft was not fit for flying, we grounded it,” Adurogboye told Vanguard.