• ‘Ex-president’s cousin must be arrested and tried for deceiving Nigerians’
• Sanction Ethiopian Airways, Tinubu urged
The controversy generated by the unveiling of Nigeria Air has taken a new twist as Aviation stakeholders and more Nigerians called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct the immediate arrest and prosecution of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
At an investigative hearing in the Red chambers, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Biodun Olujimi wondered why the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika hurriedly unveiled a national carrier on the last day of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The Committee criticized the unveiling, saying the project was shrouded in secrecy.
She affirmed that the aircraft used during the unveiling was a chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines and after the unveiling, the aircraft was recalled back to the Ethiopian Airline pool.
In his testimony, The Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Capt Dapo Olumide confessed to Lawmakers that the Nigeria Air, a chartered Aircraft from the Ethiopian Airways fleet, was unveiled to prove to Nigerians that the project is not a fluke.
The call for the prosecution of Sirika got a boost after the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, declared the launch of Nigeria Air as fraudulent, saying that major stakeholders in the deal between the Federal Government and Ethiopian Airlines denied knowledge of the launch.
The House after an interface with the leadership of the Ministry of Aviation industry, called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Hadi Sirika for deceiving Nigerian just as they demanded for the suspension of the project until all the stakeholders are carried along.
Part of their resolution is to, “Direct the Federal Ministry of Aviation and its partners in the Nigeria Air project to immediately suspend flights operations and every other action with respect to the Nigeria Air;
“Urge our new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR the President and C-in-C, to as a matter of urgency constitute a high-level Presidential Committee to undertake a holistic Review of the Processes of the whole Nigeria Air project, and advice the government on the way forward.
“Ensure that all individuals, or groups, or organisation involved in the controversial shenanigan named “Nigeria Air Take-Off” are brought to book, prosecuted and sanctioned”.
Meanwhile, a Nigeria-based anti-corruption group, SecureWorld and Liberty Initiative for Peace has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to arrest and probe Sirika for allegedly using the establishment of the national carrier for economic malfeasance.
In a petition, addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa and signed by the Executive Director of SELIP, Mark Adebayo, the group urged the anti-graft agency to make Sirika account for the sum of N15.9bn that has been committed so far on the project by the Federal Government, alleging that the desperation by the minister was geared towards covering up humongous, monumental fraud.
Similarly, some Aviation experts also called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Sirika just as they demanded for the immediate disengagement of Ethiopian Airways for undermining the interest of the Nigerian aviation sector.
An Aviation Stakeholder, Hamzat Ogunjobi who spoke with New National Star said, “Sirika ought to be behind bars by now. In a country where people are held accountable for their actions and inactions, Sirika ought to have been arrested and his properties confiscated until he refunds over $200 defrauded Nigerians on the Nigeria Air scandal.
“Ethiopian Airways should be sanctioned for allowing themselves to be used to syphon funds from the country. Their role in the Nigeria Air unveiling scandal is an indication that their intention in the Nigeria Air project was fraudulent ab intio,” he said.
Also speaking to our correspondent, Kayode Olagunju, an aviation stakeholder disclosed that Sirika wasted about $500 million on the Nigeria Air Project.
He said “It unfortunate that Minister of Aviation wasted so much resources on this venture. You may not believe it but information available to us confirms that the project has gulped over $500 million yet nothing to show for it.
“The only tangible thing that the ministry can show for it is a logo, an office space and a website. This Nigeria Air thing is best described as a conduit pipe for syphoning federal government funds. I am ashamed that the minister turned this project into a scam”.
Adding his voice, Festus Ugwoegbu, an Aviation Expert said that all stakeholders and professionals must be carried along if the Nigeria Air project will not go the way of Nigeria Airways. He further called for the probe of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
“Nigeria Air being managed by Ethiopian Airways is the worst disgrace to Nigeria. This is a country where anything happens, people do things anyway they want and go scotch free.
“The day that Aircraft landed in Nigeria, I was one of the first people to say that this is not Nigeria Air. It was Ethiopian Airline painted with Nigeria Air logo.
“For any National carrier to work in Nigeria you must involve all the stakeholders. Even if you bring a new aircraft into Nigeria, it will go the way of Nigeria Airways because professionals are not handling it, it is handled by politicians.
“First of all, they should probe that man. If it is in a country where things work, that man should be probed and after that, everything about Nigeria Air should be suspended until governments meets with major players in the industry. Airline business is not like Bank business. It is being managed by airliners,” Ugwoegbu said.
Also speaking, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, Spokesperson of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said that what Sirika did was shameful and scandalous.
He said, “The thing about Nigeria Air is not clear, their intentions are not genuine. There is nothing Nigeria in Nigeria Air. We are in court and we have documents about this charade called Nigeria Air and you will be so ashamed being a Nigerian.
“If after eight years of talks about Nigeria Air and all we could see is an old Ethiopian Aircraft, registered with Ethiopia number, just one aircraft, it is an insult. This was decorated to confuse Nigerians and some people because Nigerians have no stake on this aircraft. None of the documents of that Aircraft is with the NCAA, they just took off in Ethiopia and landed here.
“Ethiopian airline has 49% of the stake but as at today, we have not been told how much they invested. The NCAA has refused to be cajoled and as such, some of their officers were removed. The NCAA DG merely survived because there is a recent amendment in their bill which says that before you can remove the DG, you must get the consent of the senate. A lot of people have paid the price and for us in the industry, they are heroes.
New National Star had earlier reported on its May 12 edition, that The Minister, at the twilight of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, took delivery of an aircraft which according to him, is a member of Nigeria Air fleet, a development that has been described by many as a scam. Sirika said that the airplane would soon commence test flights once it secures the nod of the industry regulator, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
But it was later gathered that the B737-800, with registration Number ET-APL, Mode SQ4005C and serial number: 40965/4075, flew into Abuja as Nigeria Air but returned the following day with passengers to Addis Ababa as a scheduled Ethiopian Airlines service, with the call sign ET 938.
Information about the return of the jetliner was found on flight live tracker ‘flightrader24.com’, which showed, on Saturday afternoon, that the airplane was headed to Addis Ababa, the operational base of Ethiopian Airlines, being the core investor (49 per cent stake) in the controversial Nigeria Air project.