Hadi Sirika: Air Peace, Azman, United Nigeria Blocked Nigeria Air Deal with Ethiopian Airlines

Former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Hadi Sirika, has alleged that certain domestic carriers, under the Airline Operators of Nigeria, were responsible for the collapse of the Nigeria Air agreement between the federal government and Ethiopian Airlines.

Sirika insisted that the partnership deal, which had gone through the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), was transparent. However, he claimed that airlines such as Air Peace, Azman, and United Nigeria Airlines opposed the project because of Nigeria’s limited ownership stake.

Speaking during Channels Television’s Morning Brief programme, the ex-minister—who also revealed plans to write a book on his time in office—urged Nigerians to use the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to verify claims that the deal was fraudulent.

Explaining why Ethiopian Airlines was chosen, Sirika said no Nigerian carrier had the capacity to rival established global airlines.

He stated: “I think I was on either Channels or Arise during the controversy of Nigeria Air. First and foremost, it was a public-private partnership (PPP), which was regulated by ICRC, which gave a certificate of the OBC and ABS, and participated actively in the process. It was not our process. It was the process of ICRC. It was not a bad deal.”

Addressing allegations of financial mismanagement, Sirika clarified: “I read in the papers that I spent N100 billion or thereabouts, and it was lost in the process. That was a lie. Between 2015 and 2023, the total budget for the national carrier was N5 billion. The total amount released was N3 billion. I left there with over a billion naira. Nearly a third of the N2 billion spent went into consultancy during the period, and the balance covered staff salaries. We went through every single step of the ICRC process, and we got it to the end.”

The former minister stressed that Nigeria Air would have been operational if the domestic airlines had not gone to court: “We had an airline, but some people (Air Peace, United, and Azman) went to court to say we cannot establish an airline where we take five per cent. That was what stalled it. If there was no court case, and the new government had pursued the matter, by today, we would have had an airline.”

On Ethiopian Airlines, he explained: “Ninety-five per cent of all airlines operating within Africa are not African. British Airways, Qatar Airways, Air France and others dominate. Ethiopian Airlines has been running successfully for 79 years, and they are Africans. They came to partner with us to open up the world to us. Today, the price of a ticket from Abuja to London is more expensive than from Accra to London, and the reason is because we do not have a formidable carrier with the capacity.”

Criticising local operators, Sirika remarked: “We have seen Air Peace before, we have seen Azman before. When I say we have seen them, I mean we have seen Kabo, which was much bigger than all of them. We have seen Okada, Arik. They all came and went. What is missing is the capacity needed to compete with airlines that have 250 aircraft. I do not think an airline that has five planes can compete globally and expect to survive.”

Defending his record, he added: “All we did to establish Nigeria Air was taken to the final step before they went to court. There was no fraud. If there was, it would have been revealed. If the current minister is saying it was a bad deal, Nigerians should use the FOI Act to obtain documents from the Ministry of Aviation and the ICRC. It was not a fraud—it was a lie.”

Sirika concluded that the national carrier project would eventually materialise: “This airline, whether now or in the future, will come to be because we did not arrogate to ourselves the knowledge of aviation alone. The bid for Nigeria Air was transparent, and Ethiopian Airlines won fair and square.”

Opinion Nigeria News