Nigeria Air: Memo Reveals Why Ethiopia, Investors Fail To Sign Deal

Indications have emerged that the shareholders in the controversial national carrier, Nigeria Air, have yet to sign any agreement to formalise their stake in the project.

A memo presented by the Ministry of Aviation to the ninth House of Representatives indicated that no public-private partnership had been signed by the stakeholders.

In addition, the memo presented by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to the ninth House during its investigation of the project also revealed that shareholders had yet to sign any agreement as regards their stakes because of unresolved issues, including their structure and respective functions in the Nigeria Air.

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The national carrier was launched at the twilight of the Buhari administration, an exercise the Green Chamber has described as a fraud. The then Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had in his response denied any wrongdoing, saying there was nothing fraudulent or secretive about the project.

Sirika also accused the former chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, of demanding from him five per cent stake in the airline, a claim Nnaji has also denied.

There were reports that an aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines, which holds the largest stake of 49 per cent in the project, was chartered, repainted to bear Nigeria Air’s colours and was flown to Nigeria.

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Air’s colours and was flown to Nigeria for a display, after which the aircraft returned to Ethiopia and was repainted to its original colour.

The Senate and the House had summoned stakeholders in the aviation industry to separate meetings over the controversy.

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Photo Credit: Getty