The Rivers State Government has said it’s working to retrieve its aircraft abandoned in Germany by Rotimni Amaechi administration.
The Legacy 600 aircraft was allegedly abandoned in Germany in 2012 during the Amaechi administration.
Governor Nyesom Wike disclosed this at the General Atomics Aerotec Headquarters in Munich, Germany.
He said the state-owned aircraft was discovered through intelligence gathering.
The governor met with the General Manager, Business Development, General Atomics Aerotec, Markus Froetschi in Munich.
He said, “when we came into office in 2015, we never had an idea that our plane was in your facility.
“It was a matter of asking questions before we got the information that Legacy 600 belonging to our State is in RUAG, before General Atomics. We tried to make contact with you, which you obliged. So, we want to sincerely thank you for not hiding anything from us, because it is the property of the State government.
“This plane was bought in 2003 by the government of Dr. Peter Odili, and by 2007 he had handed it over to the next government which was my predecessor’s, now, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi. While he was in office, by 2012 this plane was brought here for reasons we do not know.”
“The issue is, why was there no documentation to let the incoming government know that we have this facility and we sent it to RUAG for inspection.
“Again, I do know from experience that inspection of such a facility does not take more than six months. So, if it was brought in 2012, expectantly at least, by early 2013, the plane ought to have come back for use.”
