The House of Representatives yesterday said the Nigeria Air project was a fraud and demanded its immediate suspension.
The lawmakers expressed displeasure at the way the former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika handled the project.
They spoke while the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, Emmanuel Meribole, who appeared before the House Committee on Aviation, chaired by Nnolim Nnaji, told the lawmakers that the project was not launched but only unveiled.
In its resolution, the committee urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to constitute a high-level presidential committee to undertake a holistic review of the processes of the Nigeria Air project and advise the government on the way forward.
It also suggested that all individuals, groups, or organisations involved in the “controversial shenanigan named Nigeria Air’s take-off” be brought to book, prosecuted and sanctioned.
The House advised the Federal Ministry of Aviation with its agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to designate some Nigerian indigenous airlines as flag carriers to take advantage of Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) that Nigeria entered into, pending when a viable national carrier will come on board.
The committee said looking at the total amount required to fully start the airline, which was put at $250,000,000, the Nigerian government and its citizenry could raise the funds without necessarily subjecting the nation to the ridicule they have been exposed to by the recent episode.
A major stakeholder in the airline with a 15 per cent stake, Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc, attended the investigative hearing.
It said the unveiling was politically motivated to “white-wash” the previous administration.
A representative of SAHCO, Boye Oyemumi, said despite being major shareholders, the company was not even aware of the unveiling, which he described as a child naming ceremony without a baby.
Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mohammed Oduwowo, told the lawmakers at the hearing that the plane that was used for the unveiling was a chartered flight, which returned to base 48 hours later.
He said the plane had Ethiopian registration and was chartered by Ethiopian Airlines to NAMA.
“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,” he said.
The Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air said they had only concluded only one out of five steps required to secure the Air Operator Certificates.
He explained that one could paint a plane to any colour one wishes, if it is chartered.
Speaking for the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Capt. Roland Iyayi said they had secured three court orders.
He said all actions regarding Nigeria Air should be stopped and status quo ante maintained, including unveiling or launching.
The Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Michael Ohiani, told the hearing that the Ministry of Justice advised the agency to stay away from the matter until it is resolved by the court.
Also speaking for the AON, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, was angry that Nigerians were colluding with the Ethiopian to break the country’s (Nigeria’s) laws for personal benefits.
Such a malpractice, he said, could not happen in Ethiopia.
At the end of the meeting, the committee resolved that the airline be suspended.
Nnaji said: “The committee, after careful evaluation of the issues on deliberation, is totally dissatisfied with the actions of the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, 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 Airline in this whole process. It does not speak well of the excellent brotherly relationship existing between our two nations…”
