…Says Nnolim, rep aviation committee chair demanded 5% shares in national carrier
…Insists he had no hand in May 27 unveiling
…Admits unveiled aircraft belongs to Ethiopian Air
…Sirika, a drowning man -Nnolim fires back
By Chinelo Obogo
The immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has denied reports that the Federal Government budgeted N85 billion for the Nigeria Air project.
During an interview on Arise TV on Sunday evening, Sirika said that from 2016 till date, the Federal Government earmarked
N5 billon for the national carrier and that out the amount, N3 billion was released from which expenses were made.
“From 2016 to 2023, all the money that was voted for Nigeria Air was N5 billion and not N85 billion. What was released was N3 billion and that is where money for transaction advisers, salaries and others, was spent and all of it had not been utilised before I left,” he said.
Also responding to the controversy over the unveiling of an Ethiopian Airline aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, which had Nigeria Air painted two days before his tenure as minister ended, Sirika denied having any direct involvement in the unveiling, saying that it was the decision of the shareholders of Nigeria Air to unveil an aircraft as a marketing strategy.
“The decision to do that unveiling was taken by the shareholders. As for SACHOL not being invited, it is for the shareholders to answer. I was invited for the unveiling and I went there and I was asked when the airline will start operations and I said it would start when the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) is issued. The AOC has gone past stage one because the contract of the post holders of the airline expired on May 31 but they were renewed. If they had changed, it would have gone back to stage one. I was also asked what if the current administration decides not to continue with the project and I said if the government decides not to continue, those that own the larger shares will continue because the Federal Government has only five percent.”
On the amount that the shareholders have paid as equity into Nigeria Air, he said, “The business plan had $200 million as capital, once they finish the documentation of the shareholders agreement and they sign, then they will pay what they are supposed to pay.”
On whether the aircraft which was unveiled belongs to Ethiopian Airline, he said: “The AOC owned by Ethiopian Airline is known to Nigerian laws and the NCAA and they can operate as scheduled passenger or chattered operations. They however decided to come in as a chartered flight and this doesn’t mean that anyone paid for anything. The government didn’t pay a dime for that aircraft to come in and it didn’t take any passengers going out because that would have been against the law and would not have been allowed. As partners of Nigerian Air and in their marketing strategy, they came to do this unveiling on a special charter arrangement and if there is anyone who would have paid for it, it would have been Ethiopian Airline and not the Nigerian Government.”
Reacting to the statement from the National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation which described Nigeria Air as a fraud, Sirika alleged that the House of Representatives committee chairman, Nnolim Nnaji, approached him and demanded for five per cent shares of the airline for “him and his people”, stating that he has proof of this conversation on tape.
He said: “On the issue of Hon Nnaji who called Nigeria Air launch a fraud, I will respond now. You know I record all my things anyway and I have it very clear. I will say exactly what I told him in private when we spoke.
“Nnaji asked me that I should give him five per cent of Nigeria to carry him along with his people, and I said to him at that time that a bidding process has taken place and some people won. So, I think you should go to those people and ask for the five per cent.”
Responding to Sirika’s interview, Nnaji said in a statement on Sunday that they are false allegations from a ”drowning man struggling to grab anything on his way to survive the barrage of attacks he has been receiving since his controversial unveiling ceremony of the so called Nigeria Air.”
Nnaji said the former Minister was not happy that he had demanded transparency and due process in all matters relating to aviation sector, especially Nigeria Air project.
He added that the House suspended further questions when the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) sued the Ministry and Nigeria Air to court and got injunction to stop it.
“It is on record that last year when the Minister announced Ethiopian Airlines as core investor in Nigeria Air, my committee which was also inundated with petitions from various stakeholders regarding that announcement invited the Minister and his team to furnish the committee with the details of the project.
“The committee requested for the evidence of the bid process that gave Ethiopian Airlines the award and, the full business case as prepared by the Nigerian Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, (ICRC) which was supposed to spell out the details of all the investors and their equity contributions.
“Sirika at that meeting said it (FUll Business Case) was still being worked out by the ICRC and promised to make it available to the committee as soon it was ready which he failed to do before Airline Operators of Nigeria, (AON) took the Ministry to court and got injunction restraining it from going ahead with the project.
“Of course, we suspended our discussions and enquiries on the project the moment court got involved. Normally when a matter is before the court the parliament does not discuss it.
“However, on May 20th 2023, l received reports of threats of mass resignations by key personnel of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) due to pressures from the Ministry to give waivers to Nigeria Air to enable it secure Air Operator’s Certificate, (AOC) so that it could take Off before the exit of the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I quickly issued a statement warning the former Minister against subverting the authority of NCAA because of its severe consequences on the Nigeria’s air transport sector. It is also a common knowledge that the Nigerian institutional investors he mentioned as participants have all denied him.
“It is not strange that Sirika came up with this spurious allegations against my person because l remained consistent in demanding that he followed due process.
“He should not deviate from the subject matter. Let him tell Nigerians the truth about the contraption he sold to us as Nigeria Air. Nnolim Nnaji is not his problem,” Nnaji said.