“I mentioned to him at the moment, Honourable, a bidding course of has taken place, and a few folks received. So, I feel you must go to these folks and ask for the 5 per cent,” the previous minister mentioned.
Nigeria’s speedy former aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, on Sunday, accused the previous Chairman of the Home of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji (PDP, Enugu), of demanding 5 per cent shares of the nationwide provider from him.
Mr Sirika made this recognized whereas talking on an Come up Tv programme on Sunday.
“He (Honourable Nnaji) requested me that I ought to give him 5 per cent of Nigeria Air to hold him alongside along with his folks,” he mentioned.
“I mentioned to him at the moment, Honourable, a bidding course of has taken place, and a few folks received. So, I feel you must go to these folks and ask for the 5 per cent.”
The previous aviation minister’s feedback got here lower than per week after the Home of Representatives Committee on Aviation alleged fraud within the unveiling of Nigeria Air and demanded the prosecution of Mr Sirika and all these related to the “controversial” unveiling of the airline.
Reacting to claims making the rounds that he spent N138 billion on the hiring and repainting of the unveiled plane, Mr Sirika mentioned it’s ridiculous to suppose that such an quantity can be expended on hiring an plane. He famous that the quantity may get the ministry 5 new Boeing 777 max aeroplanes.
“We’re accountable folks and most people ought to method the Ministry of Info and apply for the precise of knowledge to see for themselves,” he mentioned.
“That’s the identical fly air peace folks need Hadi Sirika handy over Air Nigeria to. OBJ handed Nigeria Airways to his pal firm, Arik Air, and Arik is indebted to the tune of over N300 billion, of which Nigeria taxpayers’ cash is N250 billion through AMCON.”
In his response to Mr Sirika, revealed by Each day Belief newspaper Sunday night, Mr Nnaji questioned the claims put ahead by the previous minister.
“Sirika is a drowning man struggling to seize something on his technique to survive the barrage of assaults he has been receiving since his controversial unveiling ceremony of the so-called Nigeria Air,” he was quoted as saying within the assertion.
“Ordinarily l wouldn’t have bothered to answer to his allegations of my demand for five per cent fairness in Nigeria Air as he claimed throughout his interview on Come up Tv however l consider l owe my constituents and certainly Nigerians an obligation to place the data straight.”
PREMIUM TIMES’ efforts to achieve the lawmaker Sunday evening had been unsuccessful.
Background
On 18 July 2018, Nigeria Air, the nation’s proposed nationwide provider, was unveiled on the Farnborough Air Present in England. Nevertheless, the undertaking was shelved two months after as critics raised issues over its relevance and sustainability.
The airline was anticipated to gulp $8.8 million in preliminary prices and $300 million as take-off prices.
In July 2022, the Federal Govt Council permitted the leasing of three plane to allow the airline to start operations.
In September final yr, Mr Sirika mentioned at a press briefing in Abuja that Ethiopian Airways emerged as a core investor in Nigeria Air with a 49 per cent shareholding.
The choice was trailed by a go well with filed by native airline operators who claimed they may handle Nigerian Air higher than a overseas airline. A number of the home airline operators are nonetheless in courtroom in search of to cease the federal authorities from partnering with Ethiopian Airways to drift the nationwide provider.
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When the minister unveiled the airline lower than three days earlier than his exit from workplace final month, just one plane belonging to Ethiopian Airways was unveiled on the ceremony.
This generated issues amongst Nigerians on social media, lots of whom questioned the transfer and Mr Sirika’s dealing with of the airline’s proposed operation.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) subsequently rejected an utility from the nation’s nationwide provider, in search of certification to proceed to “part two” within the strategy of acquiring an Air Operator’s Certificates (AOC).
The NCAA’s rejection letter indicated that there is no such thing as a enough preparation for the airline’s operation regardless of Mr Sirika’s repeated guarantees to Nigerians that the nationwide provider would start operation earlier than the swearing-in of a brand new administration on 29 Might.
