Since the proposed new national carrier was unveiled six years ago, Nigeria Air has been fraught with controversy and political problems.
The main backer of the project, Ethiopian Airlines was partnering with the Nigerian government to establish the airline and have a 49% stake afterwards. In May 2023, the first Boeing 737-800 (BA) was brought over to the Nigerian capital of Abuja as officials announced next steps of obtaining an Air Operator Certificate and beginning first flights.
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Things quickly went downhill after a coalition of existing Nigerian airlines moved to challenge the plan in court and a change of government in the country started looking at the entire project with greater scrutiny. Main concerns were the potential for fraud and the fact that a foreign airline would have such a large stake.
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'Meeting with investigators over the alleged aviation ministry contract fraud'
Things escalated further when, on April 23, Nigeria's former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Hadi Sirika was arrested by the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on suspicion of fraud and laundering over $6.3 million (8 billion in the local Nigerian Naira currency).
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First reported by local Nigerian outlet The Punch, Sirika was reportedly seen being taken into custody at a government building at 1 p.m. local time to be questioned over allegedly offering lucrative contracts to a contracting company owned by his younger brother Abubakar Sirika.
"Yes, that was Hadi Sirika who was taken into our FCT custody," a source present on the scene told the outlet. "He is currently meeting with EFCC investigators over the alleged N8,069,176,864.00 aviation ministry contract fraud."
A laundry list: 'abuse of office, diversion of public funds, contract inflation, criminal breaches of trust'
Other alleged infractions form quite a long list: conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, contract inflation, criminal breaches of trust, and money laundering. The former transportation minister is expected to be arraigned in court a week from the questioning on April 30.
Some of the improperly awarded contracts include a $1 million (₦1.3 billion) deal to construct a new terminal at Katsina Airport in northern Nigeria and $3 million (₦3.8 billion) for fire truck maintenance at the same airport all assigned to a company owned by Sirika's brother.
"The N8,069,176,864.00 aviation ministry contract fraud was carried out in connivance with his younger brother, Abubakar Sirika, through the latter's company," another source told Punch.
Festus Keyamo has been appointed as Nigeria's new Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development at the end of 2023 and immediately announced plans to suspend the Nigeria Air project as well as investigate those who had been trying to push it forward. At the moment, the country of nearly 220 million has 12 carriers the biggest and most well-known of which include Arik Air, Air Peace Limited and Azman Air.
"It was not a deal that was good for Nigeria in the long run," Keyamo said of the Nigeria Air plans when talking to the press in January 2024. "The whole composition and the totality of that deal was merely Ethiopian Airlines flying [under] the Nigerian flag.”
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