Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike said
yesterday that he gave his backing to the federal government in handing over
the two Bell helicopters imported by the Rivers State government to the Air
Force.
The
Customs Service announced on Friday that the helicopters were smuggled into the
country by an unknown person who failed to produce end
user certificate from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in
contravention of Section 36 ( 2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act.
The
Customs Area Comptroller, Mr. Frank Allanah, put the import duty value of
the two helicopters and their accessories at N9,757,135,240.86k.
He
proceeded to hand them over to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique
Abubakar, at a ceremony at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.
However, Wike in a statement by his Special
Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, in Port Harcourt said
he officially wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari asking that the two
helicopters which were bought by the immediate past administration in the
state be handed over to the Air Force.
He
explained that his decision was informed by the high import duty and
the refusal of the federal authorities to grant the State a waiver to
clear the choppers.
The
governor said that it was unfortunate that security agencies would resort to
political propaganda and outright lies, when the facts about the helicopters
are in public domain.
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