Mr. John Aturu lives with his family in Maitama, Abuja. On the 23rd of July, 2022, there was a robbery incident in the neighborhood where Mr. John Aturu resides, and one of the neighbors swore to have seen a person who looks exactly like Mr. John Aturu as one of the Armed robbers. Some of the robbery victims confirmed that who they saw to be amongst the armed robbers is no other person than Mr. John Aturu, they claimed that in fact Mr. John Aturu was the leader of the gang, directing the robbers where to enter and where not to enter.

These testimonies by the victims of the robbery and other residents of the estate placed Mr. John Aturu as the prime suspect of the robbery. The Police went straight to the house of Mr. John Aturu to arrest him and the wife told the police that the husband is not around and that the husband had traveled to London for a business function on the 15th of July 2022 and he is not back yet.

Immediately, Mr. John Aturu got back to Abuja, he was immediately arrested by the police at the airport, on the ground that according to eyewitnesses, he is a prime suspect in a robbery attack that has taken place in his neighborhood. Mr. John Aturu corroborated the earlier statement of the wife that he had traveled to London a week before the robbery took place and he was not even in the country and there is no magical way he could have been involved in the robbery since he is thousand of Kilometers away from the crime scene the time the robbery took place.

Mr. John Aturu in corroborating this his claim of innocence of not being involved in the robbery provided his flight ticket which according to the date stamp proved that truly Mr. John Aturu flew out of the country a week before the robbery incident, Mr. John Aturu also provided his passport which indicated according to the UK immigration stamp that Mr. John Aturu was welcomed to London a week before the incident, Mr. John Aturu also provided his hotel reservations and the details of the hotel management which the police called and they confirmed that Mr. John Aturu was in their hotel as a guest in London the night the robbery took place in Maitama, Abuja, finally, Mr. John Aturu also according to his passport showing the date the Nigerian immigration stamped him into the country, which is days after the robbery has taken place, this proven that he was truly away in London the night the robbery took place.

This defense that Mr. John Aturu has put up, that he is nowhere near the crime scene or around the robbery scene to have participated in the robbery and bringing out documents and evidence to corroborate his claim is what is known in law as “Alibi”.

The word Alibi is of Latin origin which when translated to English means; “somewhere else”. Simply put, an accused or suspect is somewhere else when the incident took place and was never at the scene of the crime to have participated in the crime.

It is a defense; that at the time and place that a crime occurred, the accused was nowhere near the crime scene.

This defense (Alibi) is to be raised and pleaded at the onset of trial when the accused is required to enter his plea of guilty or not guilty.

If Alibi is successfully pleaded, the defense of not guilty will be entered for the accused and the accused will be discharged and acquitted.

The polity is heated up for the upcoming 2023 presidential election. Amongst the presidential contenders, the most notorious is the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. People describe him to be carrying a lot of loads around his neck; hence why it is difficult for his followers and party members to market his personality to the general public.

No doubt, he is a good politician but he has a bad personality, smeared with scandals, controversies, court cases, medical unfitness, etc.

Despite the fact that he is old and his appearances indicate that he is not medically fit to be contesting or join in an active campaign, he also chose to fly the same religion ticket (Muslim -Muslim); him being a Muslim also chose another man who is of the Muslim religion to be his running mate thereby showing a sign of religious bigotry, who may relegate other religion if elected to be the president. His running mate is someone who has in a series of investigations fingered to be a Boko haram terrorist apologist.

The supporters of Bola Ahmed Tinubu have done a great job in packaging their candidate as a saint and the messiah but it is a pity that once they cover up a scandal, another scandal rises up as a plague. show up. The current problem they are tackling now is the denial of Deloitte that Bola Ahmed Tinubu never worked for them, hence they do not have his employment record in their database. Bola Ahmed Tinubu had previously claimed to have worked for Deloitte and he stated that most of the money in his account was made while in active employment as a staff of Deloitte.

His involvement in the narcotics trafficking and money laundering scandal in the United States is also dealing a heavy blow to his presidential aspiration. Most of his followers have publicly defended him that he was never involved in drug trafficking but the certified true copy of the court documents stated otherwise.

No matter how much the followers and supporters of Tinubu want to twist it, I have gone through the 58 pages court documents over and over again, the court process did not just indict Bola Ahmed Tinubu for drug trafficking, he was also indicted for Money laundering, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu was also mentioned to be involved in the laundering scheme, hence why his bank accounts were confiscated and he forfeited a whooping  $460,000 which was deemed to be proceeds of crime, the crime being drug trafficking.

No matter the rule of interpretation you want to employ in interpreting the court documents or the technicalities you may want to involve to deceive the general public; The summary of the court document is that Tinubu was indicted for Drug trafficking and Money laundering and he was forced to forfeit $460,000 to the United States of America which is a proceed of crime.

It is embarrassing that People like Festus Keyamo, SAN, a respected senior lawyer will publicly want to deceive the general public and intentionally want to bend the truth just because of politics. He claimed that Tinubu only shared an apartment with Mueez Akande (the man who ran the drug empire), hence why he is mentioned and that Tinubu was never involved in drug trafficking. I’m quite sure he has gone through the court documents and just for politics threw caution to the wind to deceive the public and it is a shame. 

As can be seen in my last Aviation Law article (How to acquire an Air Transport Licence & Airline Operator License in Nigeria), the Nigerian Aviation Regulatory Framework has detailed specifications on how to procure certain participatory permits.

This article will be more focused on the topic of Aircraft registrations in Nigeria, with special focus on the topics of :-

– The Regulatory agencies in charge of Aircraft registrations in Nigeria.

– The Requirements for aircraft registrations in Nigeria.

– Who is eligible to register an aircraft in Nigeria.

Is aircraft registration compulsory in Nigeria?

Yes, it is, otherwise operating an unregistered aircraft can attract a wide range of civil and criminal liabilities.

Which government agency is in charge of aircraft registration in Nigeria?

The government agency responsible for aircraft registrations in Nigeria is the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). 

Who is eligible to have an aircraft registered in Nigeria?

An aircraft is eligible for registration of it is owned by:-

– A Nigerian citizen.

– An individual foreigner lawfully admitted for permanent residence in Nigeria.

–  A corporation lawfully incorporated and doing business under the laws of Nigeria if the aircraft is based & primarily used in Nigeria.

– A Nigerian government entity or political subdivision.

– A foreigner who has leased the aircraft to one of the persons described above provided that :-

a). the aircraft may remain on the Nigerian registry only for as long as the lease remains in effect;

b). the certificate of registration includes the names and addresses of the lessees;

c). the aircraft is not more than 22 years old and not registered under the laws of any state apart from Nigeria.

What are the requirements for aircraft registration in Nigeria?

After the aircraft has been evaluated and found acceptable for issuance of a certificate of registration it is required to submit to submit the following documents to the authority:-

– A certificate or notice of deregistration from the previous state of registry or a letter from the state of manufacture, if the aircraft is new and has never been registered in any other state, confirming non-registration. 

– Documentation to prove the aircraft ownership e.g. a bill of sale.

– A copy of a government issued means of Identification or any other Identification approved by the authority.

– A Certified True Copy (CTC) of a certificate of incorporation issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission if the aircraft is owned by a company.

– Names of the directors of the company owning or leasing the aircraft.

– A CTC of the lease agreement if the aircraft is on lease with evidence of payment of all applicable stamp duties. 

– A CTC of the Power of Attorney executed by the owner/lessor & the lessee of the aircraft.

– A CTC of an aircraft current insurance certificate.

– A proof of payment of the prescribed fees.

– A CTC of an Air Transport Licence (ATL), an Airline Operator License (AOL), or a Permit For Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) .

What is the procedure for the allocation of aircraft registration marks?

Aircraft registration marks can be reserved after the payment of a reservation fee which will be valid for 6 months.

Aircraft registration marks will be allocated to applicants in sequence with the 5N- prefix.

Special Registration marks of the applicant’s choice can be allocated on request in writing when available and come with extra fee requirements in addition to regular Aircraft Registration charges.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved contracts worth above N10.9billion for projects in the Ministry of Education, and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC)

The Council’s approval of over N8billion worth of contract to the Ministry of Education was made known by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, following the FEC meeting which was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Mr Adamu Adamu said the approvals he secured for his ministry included one for the printing of materials for the National Examination Council (NECO) at N5,107,364,373.62 and another for the construction of perimeter fencing for the Usman Dan Fodio University in Sokoto at N3,269,761,783.43.

According to the minister of education; “Council approved three memos and all three of them are contracts. The first one is for the National Examination Council (NECO) for the printing of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, which was given to about eight contractors in the sum of N5,107,364,373.62.

“The second one is a contract for the supply of 18 ambulances, fitted with medical equipment, to 18 of our unity schools. We have more than 100 of them, for 18 we just decided to select three in each geopolitical zone. And the third one is a contract for the perimeter fencing of Usman Dan Fodio University in the sum of N3,269,761,783.43 to Amis Construction Nigeria limited”, he said.

Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who also spoke at the briefing, reported the approval of the Council for the procurement of 145 assorted vehicles for the Federal Road Safety Corps at the sum of N2,578,948,164.36.

Adesina further disclosed that the contracts for the procurement of the vehicles were awarded to Dangote Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited, Stallion NMN Limited, and Messrs Mikano International Limited. He stated as follows:

“I will give details on approval given to the Federal Road Safety Commission to procure operational vehicles. So FRSC got approval to buy operational vehicles.

“One was given to Dangote Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited and then the second one was for a procurement of saloon cars in favours of Messers Mikaino International Limited. Everything came to 2,578,948,164.36 kobo only.

“Please note that the contracts were secured locally based automobile. Dangote Peugeot is to supply within 30 days while Mikano International is to supply within 14 days.

“So for Dangote Peugeot, it is to supply 8 Landtrek Pickups at N18,172,875.00 each, totaling N145,383,000.00 and 90 at N20,889,999 each totaling N1,880,099,910.00. It is also to supply 2 Allure 508 at N28,353,877.18, totaling N56,707,754.36.

“Then for MIKANO it is to supply 20 number Nissan Almera Acenta at the cost of N12,255,000.00 each.”