Rector: Aviation College spends N5bn on superfluous helicopter maintenance

Two surplus helicopters were maintained for around ten years at a cost of N5 billion, according to the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Zaria.

Capt. Akali Modibo, rector of NCAT, disclosed this while answering questions from the media at the recently concluded Aviation Africa Summit and Exhibition, which was held in Abuja. He said it cost the institution N500m a year to maintain those helicopters, which were ultimately sold at auction by the Federal Government.

He refuted the recent rumors that the two helicopters belonging to the College were gone by pointing out that planes take off and land, not disappear.

He claimed that because the helicopters needed to be repairable, the university began maintaining the two for around 10 years, which he claimed was a waste because they weren’t used for training or as an income generator.

“First and foremost, airplanes don’t go missing,” he said. When a plane takes off, it has to land. The aircraft will be questioned extensively during landing to determine its origin and destination.

During the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Federal Government purchased the two helicopters roughly 12 to 13 years ago. It was bought to be used for pilot training, but those types of helicopters cannot be used for a pilot’s basic instruction. And basic training is what the college provides.

“At the college, no one has ever received helicopter training. Probably because the previous administration did not consult NCAT, NCAT was not considered when the government opted to buy helicopters for its agencies.

According to Modibo, the government purchased two Bell 206 helicopters for NCAT in addition to 10 aircraft for the Nigerian Police, the Nigerian Customs Service, and other organizations.

“We would have informed them of the type of aircraft we can utilize for training, which are piston engine helicopters, had the government involved NCAT. Bell 206 cannot be utilized for training. This particular helicopter type is not employed for training elsewhere in the globe. It is comparable to instructing someone to fly a Boeing 737 aircraft. You would never do it.

The Ministry of Aviation made the decision to sell the helicopters and replace them with helicopters with piston engines. It can only be sold at auction, which is the authorized method for selling government property, in order to receive your money back, he said.

He revealed that after the college submitted all the paperwork and asked the Ministry for clearance and evaluation, the procedure for the helicopter auctioning got underway in 2019.

The head of NCAT said, “The ministry wanted us to sell it at the bluebook rating, which represents the cost for new helicopters, but we cannot sell used helicopters at the bluebook pricing. Since the aircraft had been with us for more than 10 years and was idle in the hangar, we had to ask the ministry to look into the matter. However, we spend N500 million a year on maintenance on the helicopters only to keep them in the hangar.

Therefore, after ten years, we have spent roughly N5 billion on keeping the two helicopters, but we don’t use them for training or to generate income. Since the helicopters must always be in working order, it is a waste for the college. None of the two helicopters attained 40 hours of flight time during the 12- to 13-year span.

He continued by saying that NCAT management had spoken with the ministry and the minister had given his approval for the helicopter sales.

“We requested in writing to the ministry that the Ministry of Works hire valuers to assess the helicopters, and this was done. When authorized Federal Government auctioneers arrived to conduct the auction of the helicopters, the Ministry of Works sent them this document. Ultimately, two other firms purchased the aircraft, according to Modibo.

He revealed that although the helicopters finally sold at auction for over $600,000 each, they hadn’t been changed out yet because the proper procedures needed to be followed.

“Getting new airplanes is not like turning a switch on and off. You must begin writing to numerous governmental organizations. Prior to being able to purchase the piston engine airplanes, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development will write to the Ministry of Finance for approval and processing.

“With that money, we could have purchased two Robinson R44 and two R22 helicopters, but given our current foreign exchange problem, I’m confident the Federal Government will only want to sanction one R44 and one R22. The size of R44 is greater than R22’s. According to him, the R22 has two seats for training while the R44 has four seats.