Nigeria Air is a fraud – Reps
The Senate and House of Representatives committees on aviation yesterday criticized the unveiling of the Nigeria Air project that observers note was hurriedly done on the last day of the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari regime.
The lawmakers are calling for a probe of the project, as well as the suspension of flight operations and “every other action concerning Nigeria Air”.
The Senate aviation committee rose from a meeting observing that the execution of the project was shrouded in secrecy.
They urged President Bola Tinubu to constitute a high-level committee to undertake a holistic review of the project, among others.
The committee members expressed their misgivings towards the unveiling of the national carrier during a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Emmanuel Meribole; the Interim Managing Director, Nigeria Air, Capt. Dapo Olumide, as well as other heads of aviation agencies.
At the meeting, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Biodun Olujimi, kicked the ball of condemnation first, wondering why the immediate-past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, “hurriedly unveiled a national carrier on the last day of the Muhammadu Buhari administration”.
According to the chairman, though the aircraft used during the unveiling was a legitimately chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines, “after the unveiling, the owners went back with their aircraft”.
Taking a cue from their Upper Chamber colleagues, members of the House of Representatives also yesterday described the Nigeria Air project as a fraud, demanding its immediate suspension.
*Politics?
A major stakeholder, with a 15 per cent stake in the project, SAHCO, which attended the investigative hearing, said the unveiling was politically motivated “to white-wash the previous administration.
A representative of SAHCO, Boye Oyemumi, said despite being major shareholders, they were not even aware of the unveiling, which he described as “a child-naming ceremony without a baby”.
The SAHCO representative said, “Even as stakeholders, we were not even aware of the unveiling. We saw it in the newspapers and social media. We were not consulted.
“I am a bit surprised that the permanent secretary is attempting to whitewash this thing. The whole process looked like a politically-driven process meant to whitewash before the government leaves. Because if stakeholders were not there, I don’t know who was there. We were not notified.
“We would not have attended anyway, because we know what it means. So, the illegality cannot be the unveiling. We are one of the two strategic partners; 15 per cent for SAHCOL, and 15 per cent for MRS. We were never contacted for the purported unveiling.”
When pressed to recognise the acting MD of the airline, Nnoli said, “The whole thing is a fraud. There is no full business case. As far as I am concerned, we do not know the Acting MD.”
The SAHCO representative further said, “What we had was a naming ceremony without a child being born. But the naming ceremony took place without the child. Normally, you call family members. You would call SAHCO, a family member to come and attend the naming.
“We got an invitation to come and sign a shareholders’ agreement after the unveiling to come and sign on a Saturday. So, you have done the naming ceremony and everything, then you are looking for a birth certificate. That is how we see the whole process.”
*Official reactions/reality check
At the hearing, the Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mohammed Oduwowo, said the plane used for the unveiling was a chartered flight, “which returned 48 hours later”.
According to him, the plane had ‘Ethiopian’ registration, and was chartered by the Ethiopian Airlines for NAMA.
Oduwowo said, “We had an approval. We granted the aircraft a flight permit. It was meant to be a chartered flight from Ethiopia to Nigeria. It was a chartered flight. It went back the following day.”
On his part, the Interim Managing Director (IMD) of Nigeria Air said they had only concluded only one out of five steps required to secure the Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
He agreed that the plane for the unveiling was a chartered flight.
The IMD, however, explained that one could paint a plane any colour they wished if they chartered a plane.
“We have a five-phase process to go through with the regulator. After the five phases, you can get the AOC certificate. Until you do that you do not have an airline. So, we are in the fifth phase of getting the airline. So, this is not an AOC process, it is not the launch of the airline. We are not selling tickets. None of the above.
He added, “We are in stage one. We left stage one, but we replaced all the key management of the airline. We replaced all of them. When you replace them, you have to go back to phase one. That is the requirement.
“We have not gotten to phase two yet. We are going to go into phase two, but to go into phase two, there are certain documents you must attach to your request, one of which is called the schedule of events. There are other technical documents. We are in the process of putting these together.”
*The Senate overview
This is the object of the Senate Committee on Aviation’s position on fraud. It wondered why the ministry was in a hurry to launch the airline “when it was obvious that it had not fulfilled the processes required.
*Reactions from industry players
A spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Capt. Roland Iyayi said they had secured three court orders “saying all actions regarding Nigeria Air should be stopped and the status quo ante maintained, including the unveiling or launching.
He regretted that despite these reservations, the authorities still went ahead to carry out the unveiling, and despite the court process.
Iyayi argued that they were not against the project due to the fear of competition, “but because the right thing was not done”.
Also speaking for the AON, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, was angry that Nigerians were ‘colluding’ with the Ethiopian (airline) to break the country’s (Nigeria’s) laws for personal benefits”. Such, he said, could not happen in Ethiopia.
The Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Michael Ohiani, said they were advised by the Ministry of Justice to stay away from the matter until it is resolved by the court.
According to him, the shareholders’ agreement has not been signed, and negotiation is expected to resume as soon as the court injunction is lifted.
Ohiani said the full business case is yet to be prepared and submitted to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.
His words, “This has not been done. We have not issued a full business certification to Nigeria Air. Once it is presented to FEC and it is approved, it will now be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for vetting. Then there would be contract execution.
“Because of the court matter, the Ministry of Justice advised us, and we took the advice. That is the reason we have stopped further processes with Nigerian Air.”
*Aviation ministry: It was only unveiled, not launched
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, who appeared before the House Committee on Aviation chaired by Nnolim Nnaji, over a probe of the airline, told the lawmakers that the project was not launched, but only unveiled.
Meribole said, “I am not aware of any launch of Nigeria Air. What I saw in the media, and what the minister rightly said was the unveiling of the Nigeria Air. Nobody said he was launching that.
“The second thing is that Nigeria Air, as a project, did not start today. It was part of the ten roadmaps approved by the President in 2016.”
He added, “Nigeria Air, as I am aware, started in 2016, and the process of having partners came up in March 2021. We followed due process with the ICRC (Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission) which was given birth to through the PPP.
“The AON has taken us to court, and I want to ask; are we protected by discussing the issue of Nigeria Air here while the case is in court?”
Nnaji queried why the unveiling was carried out while the matter was still in court.
Meribole said the order only barred them from further negotiations, and not against unveiling the airline.
*Suspension
At the end of the meeting, the committee resolved that the airline be suspended.
Its chairman, Nnaji said, “The committee, after careful evaluation of the issues on deliberation, is dissatisfied with the actions of the former minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirka in going ahead to flag off the operations of Nigeria Air, despite a standing court injunction against such, and without any provision for sustaining the operations of the airline.
“We are equally irked by the role played by Ethiopian Airlines in this whole process. It does not speak well of the excellent brotherly relationship existing between our two nations.”
He added, “A careful review of the process indicates the exercise to be highly opaque, shrouded in secrecy, shoddy, and capable of ridiculing and tarnishing the image of Nigeria before the international community.
“We want to put on record that the committee and indeed the National Assembly had no role in the purported launch of Nigeria Air or anything related thereof.
“While the Committee and indeed the parliament is not opposed to Nigeria having a National Carrier is highly desirable to us as a people and Nigeria as a nation.
“However, such a process should be transparent and all-embracing. We as a Committee would not accept any attempt by any individual or group of individuals or organisation to hide under the project and siphon our commonwealths.”
*Constitute a high-level c’ttee to undertake a holistic review, c’ttee urges Tinubu
Also in its resolutions, the committee urged President Tinubu, 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 advise the government on the way forward.
It also urged that all individuals, groups, or organisations involved in the “controversial shenanigan named ‘Nigeria Air Take-Off’ are brought to book, prosecuted and sanctioned”.
The House also advised the Federal Ministry of Aviation and its agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to designate some Nigerian Indigenous airlines as Flag Carriers, to take advantage of the Bi-lateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) entered into by Nigeria, pending when a viable National Carrier comes on board.
