Airline operators get court order to stop Nigeria Air

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has stopped the government of Nigeria from going on with its Nigeria Air agreement reached with Ethiopia Airlines.

The court granted an “order of interim injunction restraining the federal government from executing the proposed or draft agreement of the establishment of a national carrier between Ethiopian Airlines and Nigeria”.

Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa who granted the order on Friday, November 12, 2022, ruled that an Order of Maintenance of Status Quo by all the parties in the suit from taking any further step(s) in relation to the subject matter of the suit pending when the determination of the Motion on Notice is granted.

About eight domestic airlines sued the FG to court, listing Nigerian Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as defendants.

Among other prayers, the airlines want the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport Licence already issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government/Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

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They also claimed that the firm which served as Transaction Adviser for the transaction, was incorporated in March last year and alleged that the company was linked to the aviation minister.

But the court in granting the exparte order on Friday, also ruled that an Order of Accelerated Hearing of this suit has been granted.

“An order of interim injunction is granted restraining the defendants either by themselves, agents, privies, principals or any other persons whosoever from executing the proposed or draft “National Carrier Establishment and Agreement Between the Federal Government of Nigeria (represented by the third and fourth defendants) and the strategic equity partner or giving effect to and or suspending the sale and transfer of the shares and operations of the first by the second defendant pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.

“That an Order of Maintenance of Status Quo by all the parties in this suit from taking any further step(s) in relation to the subject matter of this suit pending the determination of the Motion on Notice is granted,” Justice Lewis-Allagoa ruled.

Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation on Tuesday had said that the federal government is going ahead with establishing a national carrier despite the subsisting suit challenging the project.

Sirika insisted that aviation stakeholders and unions had sufficient time to participate in the process rather than engaging in legal suit to stall the project.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.