Abuja, NIGERIA — Nigerians are outraged by reports that the Former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, chartered Ethiopian Airline plane and unveiled same as ‘Nigeria Air’, prompting the national assembly to call for investigation of the deal and extent of Federal Government involvement.
Several individuals and groups have been calling for the arrest and investigation of the former Minister over allegations of fraud through the Nigeria Air project. While some argued that the whole project from the beginning lacked transparency, others are saying that the last-minute unveiling of an Ethiopian Airline repainted as Nigeria Air was a fraud for which the Minister has to be prosecuted.
But in a twist, Former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, swiftly accused the Lawmaker, Nnolim Nnaji who branded the launch of Nigeria Air as a fraud of bribery, noting that he demanded five per cent shares of the national carrier from him.
Speaking on ARISE TV on Sunday, Sirika said that the lawmaker, Nnolim Nnaji, approached him and asked for the shares for himself and his people.
The Nigeria Air project has been plagued by controversy since its inception. In 2018, the Federal Government announced plans to launch a national carrier with a $3.7 billion investment from the government and private investors. However, the project has been delayed due to a number of factors, including concerns about the government’s ability to manage the airline and the lack of a clear business plan.
“Hon Nnaji asked me that I should give him 5 per cent of Nigeria Air to carry him along with his people.
“I said to him at that time, Honourable, a bidding process has taken place, and some people won. So, I think you should go to those people and ask for the 5 per cent,” Sirika said.
Sirika also criticised Nnaji and the House Committee on Aviation for conducting a “predetermined hearing” on the Nigeria Air project.
“I was a member of the House of Reps 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, I was a Senator,” Sirika said. “I know the workings of the National Assembly. He [Nnaji] called for a public hearing. And right under the public hearing, he just turned the paper and read the riot act. The practice in the National Assembly is that after hearing people and their complaints, you now go and sit down as a committee, discuss the issues, raise them, approach the whole House of reps and take a position of the House plus leadership and come back and make your findings known, but not immediately you just read the riot Act out. It means is predetermined.”
Nnaji has not yet responded to Sirika’s allegations.
Hadi Sirika disclosed that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, did not pay for the chartered Ethiopian Airline plane unveiled as ‘Nigeria Air’.
He said: “The unveiling in Abuja, this was done by the government, and then the purpose of going to Farnborough was not just in vain, but to take advantage of it and to discuss with OEMs and discuss with would be partners and do a roadshow.
“But, coming back home now, when Nigeria had its own shareholders the bid was done, the bid was won by some people in their marketing strategy who decided to unveil this airline to come into Nigeria and showcase where it will be pending when the AOC has been completed and they begin to fly. So, the strategy that they did marketing, is their own, is for the owners, is for Ethiopian airline, MRS, ET and whoever they are.
“The AOC owned by Ethiopian airline is known to the general laws and the NCAA, they are permitted to come in as either scheduled passenger, charter or cargo. Now, they have to come if they’re coming under one of the three. So, the came on charter. That does not mean that anybody paid for anything, to answer your question, government did not pay a dime for that to come in.
“Number two, there are no revenue passengers going out. That would have been totally against the law and would have not been allowed and like I said, also is their own market strategy as partners, Equity Partners. They they came to do this unveiling on a special allowance, which is called charter. It does not mean that they paid for it. If there’s anybody who would have paid for it, it would have been the Ethiopian Airline and not Nigerian government at all. No penny was paid. I heard figures like N139 billion was used to pay for the aircraft and bring it in, how ridiculous can that be?”
The former minister, however, clarified that only N3billion was released for the Nigeria Air project, and the funds were spent on consultancy services and office maintenance.
He refuted the allegation of spending N85 billion on the project, emphasising that only N5billion was budgeted and not all of the N3 billion released was expended in the last seven years.
Reacting to the allegation that the Aviation Ministry under Sirika had spent N85 billion on the Nigeria Air project, the former Minister said:
“From 2016 to 2023, all of the money voted and budgeted for Nigeria Air is N5 billion. But all that was released was in the neighborhood of N3 billion, not N85 billion, and not all of the N3 billion has been expended as of the time I left office. What has been done with the money is nothing but to get special advisory services, the AOC processes, salaries, consultive services, and the maintenance of the office in Abuja.
“No contract was awarded by Hadi Sirika, these are the things the money was used for. And there is the Freedom of Information Act, people can apply and get all the information about what the money has been used for. The N85 billion being mentioned is only in the imagination of the people carrying it about.”
He further stated that the N3 billion had not been fully expended before he left the office on May 29. The ex-minister, however, admitted that the Ethiopian aircraft that was showcased as the success of the project was chartered.