Illegal Private Charter: We did not mention names of violators , loss – Aviation Ministry
By Tunde Opalana
Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development has denied mentioning names of any airline operators or private charter operators or losing N120 billion to illegal private jet charters.
In a rebuttal to a newspaper report, the ministry insisted that the supervising minister, Barrister Festus Keyamo was misrepresented by the newspaper report.
Recall that two days ago, the minister has vowed to deal with illegal private charter operators in the country.
Odutayo Oluseyi, Head Press and Public Affairs in the ministry in a statement Thursday said claims by the writer of the news story of seeing the list of indicted operators or amount the country have lost to the illegal activities could not be true.
He said “the reporter claimed to have cited the report of the 7-Member Committee on Ministerial Taskforce on Illegal Charter Operations and Related Matters presented to the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
“It is instructive to note that the purported report claimed to be cited by the reporter was submitted to the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development at the evening of the 4th of March, 2025 and is yet to be studied.
“That members of the Task Force who wrote the Report have contacted the Ministry saying that none of such names mentioned by the newspaper were listed in the report.
“That part of the recommendation in the report as stated by the chairman of the Task Force is that the government should strengthen regulatory oversight, enhance security measures, improve compliance with aviation laws, and ensure that private charter operations are conducted transparently and in line with international standards.
The Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development urged the news medium to retract their story and in future obtain credible information from the Ministry should the case arise.
The Ministry also appealed to the general public and those listed in the newspaper report “to please disregard such misinformation capable of breaching public trust and national harmony”
