Barely two months after a Sikorsky SK76 helicopter operated by East Aviation crashed in Port Harcourt, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has disclosed that its handlers violated several of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations directives.

Although the bureau was silent on whether or not the vices led to the unfortunate incident, the act shows gaps in the regulatory duties of the NCAR.

The helicopter, which was contracted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Bonny Finima, off the coast of Calabar on October 24, with six passengers and two crew members.

Five bodies of the eight victims have been recovered while the remaining three are still yet to be found.

While reeling out the preliminary findings of the bureau on the accident, The Director-General of NSIB, Alex Badeh, on Tuesday told journalists in Abuja that the crashed helicopter was not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder, a violation of the Part 7.8.2.2(q) of Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) Act 2023

Badeh added that the helicopter crew members used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.

The preliminary findings of the bureau read partly, “The helicopter was fitted with a solid-state cockpit voice recorder; The helicopter was not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder; although Part 7.8.2.2(q) of Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 requires that FDR shall be fitted on the helicopter; The flight crew used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.”

The report further reads; “There were no standard callouts for the various phases of the flight; The helicopter Radio Altimeter (Rad alt) was snagged and deferred on October 18, 2024, six days before the accident; No dew point data was reported in the weather information passed to 5N-BQG on the day of the occurrence.”

While speaking on the causes of the crash, Badeh explained that the investigators discovered that it appeared to be “Struggling to gain balance right before crashing into the ocean.”

He further noted that the crew’s struggle was followed by an aural warning from the aircraft, “Bank angle, Bank angle,” which was the last recorded data on the Cockpit Voice Recorder with smoke emanating from the engine before it ditched into the water.

Other reports released by the NSIB include a final report on the serious accidents involving Beech Baron 58 aircraft operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria with nationality and registration marks 5N-CAG, which occurred on runway 5 at General Hassan Usman Katsina International Airport, Kaduna on December 31, 2022 and five other incidents.

The NSIB, however, charged the NCAA to ensure strict compliance with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 part 7.8.2.2(q) which requires that all helicopters with a maximum take-off mass over 3175 kg and up to 7000 kg be fitted with a Flight Data Recorder.

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has deregistered over 300,000 dormant companies within a year to sanitise the nation’s corporate registration system.

The Registrar General, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji (SAN), announced this in an exclusive interview with The Nation in Abuja.

Magaji said: “From October 16, 2023, when I assumed office, to date, we have witnessed an extraordinary level of deregistration. In December 2023 alone, we deregistered over 100,000 companies. By February 2024, another 100,000 companies were removed, and recently, we deregistered an additional 100,000.”

The CAC boss explained that the deregistered entities had remained inactive, failing to file annual returns for over a decade.

According to him, some of the companies posed risks to the economy, as they could be used for fraudulent activities.

He said: “Our challenge is that we are not even deregistering in millions. This is because, as I earlier told you, business registration in Nigeria started since sometime around 1912. And what we have in our portal is from 2021. So, you can see the barrier.

“All the historical records from that year to this year are not on the portal. We are onboarding them gradually. When we complete our task, we will then have the total number of the dormant companies and they will go.

“Our system is integrated with critical agencies, such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), security agencies, embassies, and banks. Once a company is marked as inactive on our portal, it cannot access banking services, process embassy documents, or engage in other operations,” he said.

Magaji explained the legal framework supporting these actions, saying: “If a company remains dormant for over 10 years, we are empowered to deregister it. Additionally, even if a company has been inactive for two years without filing annual returns, I can deregister it under the law.”

The registrar general attributed the success of CAC’s measures to the political will of the Federal Government.

He added: “We have been given a free hand by Mr. President and the supervising minister to carry out our duties without interference. This has enabled us to act boldly and decisively.”

Magaji dismissed the claims that a significant number of companies were folding up due to insolvency or economic challenges.

The CAC boss described such assertions as exaggerated.

He added: “While some businesses apply for voluntary winding up, the numbers of such companies are negligible. Many of these cases arise from changes in business focus rather than economic difficulties. For instance, a company like Nokia transitioned from producing phones to manufacturing vehicle tyres.”

Magaji noted that technological advancements and shifts in business strategies were driving many companies to restructure rather than exit the market.

He said CAC hosts Nigeria’s Beneficial Ownership Register, a platform providing free access to information about companies and their significant controllers.

“Nigeria is one of the global leaders in implementing the beneficial ownership register. We are hosting the register at bor.cac.gov.ng. This transparency ensures that even individuals with indirect control of a company must disclose their interest within 30 days,” he said.

No fewer than 40 special detectives from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) monitoring team are allegedly on the trail of Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, the spokesman to Kano State Governor Abba Kabir.

They were reportedly deployed from Abuja to arrest Dawakin-Tofa on the instruction of the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

The immediate past governor of Kano State was said to have petitioned the IGP and fingered the spokesman and fellow indigene in the controversy surrounding his suspension from his Ganduje ward in Dawakin-Tofa Local Council of the state.

Family sources told journalists yesterday that the team of plain-clothe detectives was seen mounting surveillance around Dawakin-Tofa’s residence on Monday to effect his arrest.

One of them, who craved anonymity, claimed the secret police ransacked the residence more than five times, scaring family members, relatives and neighbours in the process.

It was learnt that the team has been on the look-out for Dawakin-Tofa in the last two weeks despite an order of the court restraining the IGP, DSS, Kano CP and other security agencies from arresting, and or harassing the governor’s spokesperson.

Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu of the Kano State High Court, last Thursday, granted an ex parte application, restraining further manhunt of Dawakin-Tofa pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit on his fundamental rights slated for January 22, 2025.

The animosity between Dawakin-Tofa and Ganduje dates back nine years ago, specifically in 2015, when Ganduje, as governor-elect, reportedly ordered Dawakin-Tofa’s arrest over his supposed opposition during the gubernatorial election.

In the latest episode, Ganduje was said to have petitioned the IGP, accusing Dawakin-Tofa of being the brain behind his suspension by the ward executives a couple of months back.

Consequently, a team of 40 police officers from the IGP team was reportedly mobilised to Kano to apprehend the governor’s spokesperson.

Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer (FPPRO) for comments were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to his phone were neither answered nor returned as of press time.