Reps disagree with Senators over missing plane

Shola Adekola, Lagos - 26.03.2008

THE controversy over the missing Beech Craft which disappeared after departing the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on March 15 was heightened on Tuesday with the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation disagreeing with the recent call from some senators that chief executives of the aviation agencies should resign over their inability to locate the missing plane.

The chairman of the committee, Honourable Independence Ogunewe, in a statement issued on the missing plane, described the call by the senators and others as unfortunate.

Ogunewe took a swipe at those blaming the challenges being faced by the search and rescue agencies in ascertaining what actually happened to the plane on the controversy over the $19.6 billion aviation intervention fund.

The chairman, who disclosed how his committee had been bombarded with calls and visits by all manner of persons with diverse opinions and suggestions since the incident happened, said others had questioned the availability of Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) on the missing aircraft and if available as at the time of the incident whether it was functional.

Ogunewe, while saying the call for the resignation of the aviation officials coupled with the persistent demands for a statement from the committee made his statement inevitable, describing the incident as one of the “products of the long neglect and politicisation of the aviation industry by previous regimes for which this crop of efficient professionals engaged at the helm of the various sectors and agencies in the industry are battling to see how they can be corrected and as such, the call for their resignation is uncalled for.

“The question should rather be what is being done to ensure that the sector meets the globally accepted standards to avoid a repeat. This is the first time in the history of the aviation industry that all the agencies are being headed by practising professionals from the sector. They need all our support and encouragement and time to refocus the sector.

“As l have said at different fora, the committee is determined to review all the acts establishing the agencies in the sector to ensure they deliver efficient services to Nigerians backed by the right laws,” he said.