Hadi Sirika, former minister of aviation says the controversial launch of Nigeria Air and the aircraft used for the launch was part of the marketing strategies Ethiopian Airlines deployed to showcase the airline.
Sirika who had disclosed this on Arise TV/Thisdaylive on Sunday said Ethiopian Airlines which owns 49 percent of the airline shares did not want to wait till they are issued Airline Operating Certificate (AOC) before the launch of the airline takes place.
He said aircraft used for the launch and the decision to carry out the launch a day before the handover was solely the decision of the owners of the airline, especially Ethiopian Airlines.
He explained that Nigeria Air is 95 percent private sector driven with 49 percent shares owned by Ethiopian Airlines, 15 percent owned by SAHCO, 31 percent owned by others and just five percent owned by the federal government.
He said if the new government decides that it is no longer interested in running the airline, that will just be five percent, 95 percent of the airline will continue.
He said there is no stopping of the national carrier, adding that if any shareholder decides to pull out, others will continue.
He said Ethiopian Airlines will be investing 49 percent of 200 million dollars into the project as the main investor.
“The Unveiling of Nigeria Air was done by the owners of the airline and not the federal government. The owners led by Ethiopian Airlines will be ready to fly when the AOC is ready. The unveiling of Nigeria Air was just to showcase the brand,” Sirika said.
He said Ethiopian Airlines is permitted by law to operate into Nigeria as scheduled flight, chartered flight or cargo flight.
The former minister said Ethiopian Airlines chose to operate Nigeria Air as charted flight and government did not pay any money for them to bring in the aircraft or brand the aircraft.
“Government did not pay any money for Ethiopian Airlines to bring in the aircraft. It is the airline’s marketing strategy as a partner. No penny was paid to Ethiopian airlines. There is no iota of truth in reports indicating that federal government paid money to bring in the aircraft.
“Ethiopian Airlines took back the aircraft after the unveil since the AOC is not ready. Ethiopian Airlines are masters at the game. They will not keep an aircraft on ground to be accumulating debts. So, when the AOC is ready, the airline would be ready to fly,” Sirika explained.
Speaking on the court issue with Airline Operators of Nigeria, (AON), Sirika said he is aware there is a court order and a motion to vacate the court order.
He said there were plans that when Nigeria Air starts to operate, it would be given tax incentives in a bid to contribute maximally to the country’s Gross Domestic Product but this has been reviewed and there would no longer be any tax incentive given to the airline and the airline will be treated like every other airline.
On not carrying stakeholders along in the project, Sirika said this was not true as the airline was advertised during the documentation stage and airline operators participated in business conferences on airline.
“People bided and even asked for extension of time and some people won. We held six stakeholders meeting where we discussed Nigeria Air project. We discussed our business case. The bidding was transparently carried out. Every single stakeholder was carried along in the process,” he said.
Sirika during the live interview hinted that the against data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Compilation of Budgetary Allocations alleging that N85 billion was spent on the national carrier in eight years, he said less than three billion has been spent so far.
“Between 2016 to 2023, all the money that was approved was five billion naira and only three billion naira was released and not all has been spent. The money spent so far was spent on transaction advisory, salaries, office in Abuja, consultancy and Air Operating Certificate (AOC) processes,” he said.
