EXPOSED!!! HOW LAGOS GOVT SOLD HELICOPTER IT BOUGHT IN 2009 BACK TO ITSELF IN 2015
Questions are now being asked by Nigerians as to whether or not the Lagos State government sold the two helicopters it bought in 2009 to itself and paid afresh.
On December 7, 2009, the then Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola launched two Bell 412 EP Helicopters for security surveillance in the State.
However, on November 27, 2015, the State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode commissioned three helicopters, 15 armoured personnel carriers, APCs, two gunboats, 165 vehicles and others purchased at a cost of N4.765 billion.
One of the helicopters was a Bell 412 EP 5N-LAG (Manufacturers Serial Number 36495), the same as the ones commissioned by Fashola in 2009!
When Fashola launched the helicopters in 2009, he did not say that it belonged to Caverton. Rather, he said Caverton would assist the government to enforce safety standards, implying that the helicopters never belonged to Caverton.
A trail of documents and news articles readily available online show that this helicopter (5N-LAG) together with 5N-LSG were both procured in 2009 via deductions from the Lagos State Security Trust Fund by the Fashola’s led government.
According publication by Saharareporters on November 20, 2009, revealed that the Bell 412 EP that Caverton advertised as its own was one of the two helicopters the Lagos State government purchased through the Lagos State Trust Fund to fight crime in the state.
In 2007, the Lagos State Security Trust Fund was established under the Lagos State Security Trust Fund Law 2007 enacted by the state assembly. The Trust Fund was established to raise money and equipment through voluntary subscriptions and donations from all interested government agencies, private organizations and individuals. The funds were then to be invested to take care of the security challenges of the entire state.
Caverton is owned by a businessman, Remi Makanjuola, who also doubled then as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Lagos Trust Fund.
Saharareporters claimed then that in telephone calls made to a Florida–based company, Africair Inc., it discovered that the Lagos State Security Trust Fund had ordered two helicopters, which were supplied, shipped and re-assembled in Lagos.
When Saharareporters reached the Africa rep. of Africair, Mr. Robert Prentice, in Nairobi, Kenya he confirmed that his company had completed the supply of the helicopters to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund. Prodded as to why Caverton is claiming ownership of the equipment, he admitted that the state has a deal with Caverton to operate the helicopters.
The inference from all these is that the Lagos State Government purchased the repainted 5N-LAG helicopter from itself or better still, Ambode repurchased the same helicopter bought by Fashola.
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