Some Nigerians on the internet have called for the arrest and prosecution of the immediate past Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, after the Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Dayo Olumide, disclosed that the aeroplane that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 26, 2023, was a chartered one from Ethiopia Airlines.
Olumide made this known while answering questions from senators on Monday, adding that it was launched in 2018 and that his own responsibility was to secure an operating certificate for the airline.
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He said, “It is a pleasure to be here and to finally make our position known, where I can clarify all the misconceptions regarding Nigeria Air as it pertains to the technical aspects of it.”
The Newspaper had reported Sirika affirming at a Federal Executive Council meeting that the national carrier will begin operations before Buhari’s administration winds down on May 29, 2023, despite an order by a Federal High Court in Lagos restraining Nuhu Musa, director-general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, from issuing an air operator’s certificate to the proposed airline.
He added that the council also approved the sum of ₦3.5 billion for a contract for photometric and taxiway lights for Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt airports.
Contrary to the minister’s claim that the Federal Government will control five per cent equity, while a consortium of three Nigerian investors (MRS, SAHCO and the Nigerian Sovereign Fund) will have 46 per cent, Olumide countered that the aircraft, stirring the conversation did not require a licence and other processes, as it was hired.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have come down hard on the minister and called for his arrest and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.