The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to dissolve Nigeria Air, the national carrier unveiled a few days before the end of the previous administration.
Onyema, who described “moribund” the Nigeria Air project launched by former Aviation Minister, Sen Hadi Sirika, said the country should rather invest in a flag bearer airline than a national carrier.
He revealed this while featuring on Arise Television’s morning show on Wednesday, as he criticised the shareholding structure of the airline, saying that it favours Ethiopia.
He argued that Nigeria is contributing the financial investment for the airline, while Ethiopia is set to earn 49% of the venture without actually putting any money into it.
According to reports the Federal Government took delivery of the first plane of the country’s national carrier, Nigeria Air, amid protests from local airline operators that it was contrary to a court order, which barred the government from taking further action on the project.
The Air Peace helmsman further revealed that in 2019, Ethiopian Airlines approached Air Peace for a partnership, but he rejected the offer due to his patriotism for Nigeria.
He noted that according to the agreement signed for the stake in Nigeria Air, Ethiopians were not expected to bring in any money as an investment into the project.
Also, he alleged that the leadership of the entire management of the proposed Nigeria Air—the DFO, CEO, and all the management positions—were to be headed by Ethiopians while the deputy position was given to Nigeria.
Onyema stressed that the unveiling of Nigeria Air despite the litigation was a total disrespect of the judiciary that should not be tolerated.
