Cross River State Government has denied reports that the state government bought an aircraft from Rivers State for $9 million.
The state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, said the report credited to the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, was not true.
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a story in dailies, credited to the Governor of Rivers State, that Rivers State Government sold one of its three aircraft to Cross River State for $9 million.”
Mr. Ugbe said that though the Cross River State Government would not want to join issues with her sister state, the aircraft was sold to the state for $6 million in 2009 and that negotiation was concluded and agreement entered into.
He said: “Negotiation for the said aircraft, DASH 8 Propeller aircraft, which was bought for commercial reason, was concluded in 2009 with an agreement signed for the purchase at $6 million and not $9 million as said in the report.
“Before the signing of the Agreement, Cross River State Government, engaged the services of an aviation consultant.
The consultant inspected the aircraft and stated that beyond the fact that the interior needed to be reconfigured from its VIP configuration to a 32-seater commercial configuration, the aircraft was in good state and the actual value as at then would be between $8 million and $12 million. If we take into consideration the fact that the aircraft was initially bought by Rivers State for over $15 million, then the $6 million was a bargain buy.
“The main reason Cross River State acquired the aircraft was to ease access to the Obudu Mountain Resort, a N20 billion investment in the Northern Senatorial District of the state which is experiencing below average patronage due to difficulty in accessibility and unavailability of scheduled flights to the resort,” he added.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayThe state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, said the report credited to the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, was not true.
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a story in dailies, credited to the Governor of Rivers State, that Rivers State Government sold one of its three aircraft to Cross River State for $9 million.”
Mr. Ugbe said that though the Cross River State Government would not want to join issues with her sister state, the aircraft was sold to the state for $6 million in 2009 and that negotiation was concluded and agreement entered into.
He said: “Negotiation for the said aircraft, DASH 8 Propeller aircraft, which was bought for commercial reason, was concluded in 2009 with an agreement signed for the purchase at $6 million and not $9 million as said in the report.
“Before the signing of the Agreement, Cross River State Government, engaged the services of an aviation consultant.
The consultant inspected the aircraft and stated that beyond the fact that the interior needed to be reconfigured from its VIP configuration to a 32-seater commercial configuration, the aircraft was in good state and the actual value as at then would be between $8 million and $12 million. If we take into consideration the fact that the aircraft was initially bought by Rivers State for over $15 million, then the $6 million was a bargain buy.
“The main reason Cross River State acquired the aircraft was to ease access to the Obudu Mountain Resort, a N20 billion investment in the Northern Senatorial District of the state which is experiencing below average patronage due to difficulty in accessibility and unavailability of scheduled flights to the resort,” he added.
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