Immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has denied reports that the Federal Government budgeted N85 billion for the Nigeria Air project.
During an interview on Arise TV on Sunday evening, Sirika, said that from 2016 till the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, on May 29, 2023, the Federal Government earmarked N5 billon for the national carrier and that only N3 billion was released for the expenses made on the project.
From 2016 to 2023, all the money that was voted for Nigeria Air project was N5 billion and not N85 billion. What was released was N3 billion and that is where money for transaction advisers, salaries and others, was spent and all of it was not utilised before I left,” he said.
Also responding to the controversy over the unveiling of an Ethiopian Airline aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, two days before his tenure end as minister, Sirika denied having any direct involvement in the unveiling, saying that it was the decision of the shareholders of Nigeria Air to unveil an aircraft as a marketing strategy.
The decision to do that unveiling was taken by the shareholders. As for SACHOL not being invited, it is for the shareholders to answer. I was invited for the unveiling and I went there and I was asked when the airline will start operations and I said it would start when the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) is issued. The AOC has gone past stage one because the contract of the post holders of the airline expired on May 31 but they were renewed. If they had changed, it would have gone back to stage one. I was also asked what if the current administration decides not to continue with the project and I said if the government decides not to continue, those that own the larger shares will continue because the Federal Government has only five percent.”
On the amount that the shareholders have paid as equity into Nigeria Air, he said, “The business plan had $200 million as capital, once they finish the documentation of the shareholders agreement and they signed, then they will pay what they are supposed to pay.”
On whether the aircraft which was unveiled belongs to Ethiopian Airline, he said: “The AOC owned by Ethiopian Airline is known to Nigerian laws and the NCAA and they can operate as scheduled passenger or chattered operations. They however decided to come in as a chartered flight and this doesn’t mean that anyone paid for anything.
The government didn’t pay a dime for that aircraft to come in and it didn’t take any passengers going out because that would have been against the law and would not have been allowed. As partners of Nigerian Air and in their marketing strategy, they came to do this unveiling on a special charter arrangement and if there is anyone who would have paid for it, it would have been Ethiopian Airline and not the Nigerian Government.”
Reacting to the statement from the National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation which described Nigeria Air as a fraud, Sirika alleged that the House of Representatives committee chairman, Nnolim Nnaji, approached him and demanded for five per cent shares of the airline for “him and his people”, stating that he has proof of this conversation on tape.
