Justice Sylvanus Orji ruled that they must not leave the country pending the conclusion of their N2.7bn fraud trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Thursday on six counts, bordering on N2.7bn fraud.

They were arraigned alongside Al-Buraq Investment Ltd.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Sirika abused his office by awarding a consultancy N1.3bn contract for the Nigerian Air Start-up to Tianero Nigeria Limited.

The commission said in doing that, the ex-minister acted contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

In another count, the anti-graft agency alleged that on or about August 18, 2022, in Abuja, Sirika “did use your position to confer unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1.498,300,750.00.”

The anti-graft agency said by so doing, Sirika violated Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and was liable to punishment under the same section.

In count three, the EFCC accused Sirika of criminal breach of trust “while being the Minister of Aviation and in such capacity as a public officer on or about August 18, 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court.”

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

Following a bail application by the defence counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), the defendants were each granted bail in the sum of N100m with two sureties in like sum.

The judge said one of the sureties must own a landed property with valid land titles  within the Federal Capital Territory.

The judge also held that the sureties must depose to an affidavit of means while he barred the defendants from travelling outside the shores of the country without permission.

Justice Orji added that failure to fulfil the bail conditions would earn the defendants a stay in a correctional facility.

He ruled, “I admit the first, second and third defendant to bail in the sum of 100m each with two sureties of like sum.

“One of the sureties must have a landed property within the Federal Capital Territory. The defendants must not travel outside the country.

“Any of them who is unable to fulfil the bail conditions will be remanded in the correctional centre.”

The trial was subsequently fixed for June 10, 11 and 20.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika said that aviation and aerospace were intertwined and Nigeria had the need to proactively set its policies to align with future occurrences.

The Minister made the announcement at the sidelines of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja.

Sirika explained that the alteration became expedient because it is on the exclusive list.

He, however, maintained that the future of aviation had experienced an advancement such that aviation and aerospace were intertwined and Nigeria had the need to proactively set its policies to align with future occurrences.

The minister further linked the development to the establishment of the African Aerospace and Aviation University in Abuja

Sirika made this known while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by the vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Regarding Nigeria Air, yes, we are on course; and by the Grace of God, before President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office, it will fly.

“We are on course; before May 29, Nigeria Air will fly,” he said.

The minister continued saying that something important happened in the aviation industry with FEC’s approval of the Aviation Leasing Company. He added that the council also approved the sum of ₦3.5 billion for a contract for photometric and taxiway lights for Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt airports.

“Something very significant has happened in the world of civil aviation; part of our road map, the Aviation Leasing Company has been established and approved by the council.

“Therefore, operators in civil aviation will have access to this equipment at an affordable rate and within our country, Nigeria; this is part of the roadmap. So, the roadmap is gradually coming to 100% completion.

“Second memo was an award of contract for the procurement and installation of taxiway lights and photometric patterns for Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja, and some other equipment all over the country.

“The total sum of the contract for photometric and taxiway lights is ₦3.5 billion with 7.5% VAT and 12 months completion period,” he said.

On his part, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, confirmed the council’s decision to approve 37 new private universities across the country.

He said that by the foregoing, the present administration had surpassed any other administration in terms of establishing universities.

“37 new private universities have been licensed and that will make this admiration probably the most university–friendly administration because we have so far established 72 universities.

“14 by the Federal Government, 21 by states, and 37 by private; so, in total, we have 72 new universities from 2015 to date.

“And today I am announcing 37 new private universities,” he said.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, noted that the conference was in fulfilment of the provisions of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act and National Policy on Public-Private Partnership.

According to a statement by Sani Datti for the Special Assistant to the Minister on Public Affairs, James Odaudu, the conference was held in Abuja on Monday.

Sirika in his remarks said, “Government is committed to the projects and that is why is taking time because of due diligence as ICRC is superintended the process.

He said as an entity regulating PPP, we follow their template so that public gets the value for the money.

“The present administration is not willing to sale public properties but willing to make them better, by giving them to the private sector to make them better so that there is value for the money,” he added.

Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Muhammed Shehu, who doubles as Chairman, Project Delivery Team said the Ministry is in the procurement phase for the selection of preferred bidders for the projects

He said the conference is designed to interface with the companies/consortia that were successful at the request for qualification stage and have been requalified to proceed to the request for proposal stage of the procurement phase.

“The programme is to enable the companies to make clarifications with the consultant on the areas in the request for proposal package and draft contract agreement. The result of the exercise will guide them in the pupation of both technical and financial proposals,” he explained.

The Director of Transport Infrastructure, ICRC, Emmanuel Onwadi, said at this stage of the transaction ICRC is willing and committed to making sure that we achieve the set standard in line with the aspiration of Nigerians.

He urged participants to feel free and ask questions for clarification, adding that stakeholder engagement will continue throughout the project’s lifespan

Speaking during an emergency meeting with the Airline Operators Association of Nigeria (AON) in Abuja on Tuesday July 26, Sirika said the variables impacting the crises in the aviation sector are beyond the industry’s control.

Pointing out that the situation was further compounded by the lingering scarcity of foreign exchange because the source of earning forex has dwindled, the Minister stated that there is no short-term solution because of the challenges which he claimed is a global problem.

He said; There is no immediate solution.Energy crisis is real and it is global. Today there are aviation fuel problems all over the world. From America to New Zealand. It is aggravating in Nigeria because we don’t produce the product.As we speak, the government is in the process of finding a permanent solution to this issue”

Sirika added that some of the solutions being considered include “importation of the product at appropriate price, accelerating the refurbishment of our refineries and also wait for the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery to boost supply of the product.”

The solutions according to him;“Cannot be soon.So when you ask how soon, I wouldn’t know when Dangote will come on stream, I wouldn’t know how soon the refineries will be filled. I wouldn’t know when imports would become sufficient. But the government is working towards all these to happen”

Mr Sirika said he will be meeting with relevant stakeholders including the Central Bank of Nigeria to see how the airlines can access dollars at the official market rate rather than the black market rate.

It also announced that the country’s civil aviation regulations were currently being reviewed for unbundling in order to make the entry requirements for aviation investors much easier.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who disclosed this at the ongoing National Aviation Conference in Abuja, stated that aside from the current concession of Nigeria’s major international airports, other airports would follow suit.

The concession process for Nigeria’s four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano is currently ongoing. FAAN manages 21 airports on behalf of the Federal Government.

Speaking on investment opportunities in the aviation sector, Sirika said, “For investments in the airports, airport concessions, starting with the five international airports are also excellent opportunities for investments. Other airports too gradually will be out on concession.

“There are a lot of state airports, a lot of private airports, I believe that needs resources and investments and I’m sure the owners/operators of these airports will welcome investments from the private sector to enable them to achieve their strategic goals for implementing these projects.”

The minister, who was represented by the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Musa Nuhu, added, “So, by and large, the Nigeria aviation industry offers several opportunities for investments and we as the regulator, we are working at the regulations to unbundle them and make it easier for people to invest in all areas.

“This is especially in general aviation which has significant sectors and we are going to be unbundling our regulations to make the entry requirements much easier so that people are encouraged to invest.”

In his address at the conference, the Director, Commercial and Business Development, FAAN, Sadiku Rafindadi, stated that the Nigerian aviation market was huge, yet untapped.

He, however, noted that the plan of FAAN was to fully tap Nigeria’s potential and harness the available opportunities within the 21 airports managed by the authority.

The 35-member sub-committee, known as Technical Committee on Monitoring and Supervision, is headed by Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma. Others on the committee include- Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State; the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN); and the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who also represents Buhari’s home state of Katsina in the federal cabinet.

Others in the committee include Buhari’s trusted ally and Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiyya Farouq; and Buhari’s social media aide, Lauretta Onochie, who was nominated as a national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission sparked a nationwide outrage last year.

An impeccable source in the APC told The PUNCH that the members of the monitoring committee would be the “President’s eyes and ears at the national convention.”

“The duty of Malami and others will be to ensure that the President’s orders are obeyed strictly. It will be like a class captain compiling names of noisemakers. They will monitor those who defy the President’s orders and report accordingly.

“Some of the members of the committee are the President’s closest allies. They were the ones that travelled to London two weeks ago to save Buni’s job. They were with him long before he became President,” said an APC chieftain who wished to remain anonymous.

The President’s insistence on Nasarawa State Senator and former Governor, Abdullahi Adamu; had caused friction among some chieftains of the party including some chairmanship aspirants.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known at the weekly ministerial press briefing organized by the Presidential Communication Team led by the President’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Sirika explained that the university would be world-class and would collaborate with some famous institutions.

“Believe me, civil aviation alone can sustain our economy. Ethiopia is half-Nigeria, there are 85 million people and their major source of income and economy is Ethiopian Airlines.

“So, civil aviation alone can actually run an economy, it depends on how you do it.

“But we have seen that we are not producing anything out of civil aviation and all the aviation ventures in the country keep collapsing and that has compounded the problem. We attribute that to the lack of capacity to manage.

“So we are going to establish the institution in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), other friendly countries and some universities around the world.

“So, it will be a world-class university and there is a small team working on it now. We have submitted our concept notes to the Nigerian Universities Commission and it is being attended to.

“I think this university will come up very soon, before the end of the year. The Minister of the FCT has given us the land. It will be half online and half real-time studies.”

He expressed optimism that the university when operational would boost activities as well as produce the needed manpower in the aviation sector.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika who gave the directive at the weekly State House briefing in Aso Villa, Abuja on Thursday, July 8, also read some of the rights of aviation passengers at the briefing.

He said “On domestic flights, delay beyond one hour, the carrier should provide refreshment, and one telephone call, or one SMS, or one e-mail. They should send you an SMS or email or call you to say, ‘I am sorry, I am delaying for one hour. Delay for two hours and beyond, the carrier shall reimburse passengers the full volume of their tickets. The delay between 10 pm and 4 am, the carrier shall provide hotel accommodation, refreshment, meal, two free calls, SMS, email and transport to-and-fro airport.”

Speaking at the press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday, March 15, Sirika said the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport would be reopened for international flights on April 5, 2021.

He said “The airports were shut down, like others across the world. We closed our airports as that was where the virus came into the country. We reopened some after many considerations with the other stakeholders. There were no ulterior motives for not reopening the Kano or other airports. There are processes to be followed”