Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in his judgment stopping the sale ordered that the proposed establishment of a national carrier-Nigeria Air, by the Federal Government, should not be carried out.

The judge made the order while granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, and five others in the aviation industry.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that all the reliefs sought are granted except for the relief asking for N2bn as damages for the injury suffered by the plaintiffs as a result of their wrongful exclusion and the wrongful action; unlawful bidding and selection processes for the Nigeria Air project.

Listed as the 1st to 6th plaintiffs in the suit are the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators, Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, and Topbrass Aviation Limited.

The six plaintiffs had filed the suit against the first to fourth defendants; Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, Senator Hadi Sirika (former Minister of Aviation, Federal Ministry of Aviation), and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

In the suit, the plaintiffs had asked the court to make an order setting aside the entire bidding/selection process(es) for the “Nigeria Air” project as well as the approval, grant, or selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the Former Minister, Hadi Sirika and then Former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

In the Originating Summons filed in Nov. 2022, the plaintiffs “challenged the sale and transfer of shares of Nigeria Air”. They also claimed that the bidding process for Nigeria Air, facilitated by the Federal Government of Nigeria, was fraught with irregularities and favoured Ethiopian Airlines, a foreign entity wholly owned by the Ethiopian Government.

The plaintiffs argued that the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transportation who hold significant control in Nigeria Air failed to comply with the request for proposal guidelines, leading to the exclusion of local airlines from the bidding process.

The plaintiffs also said that the 3rd and 4th defendants, who are key government officials, facilitated a skewed bidding process, granting the 2nd defendant, Ethiopian Airlines, and its consortium unprecedented privileges.

These include a 15-year tax moratorium, exclusive terminal buildings in Lagos and Abuja, and significant financial support, which they argue will undermine local airlines and the Nigerian economy.

According to the plaintiffs, the consortium led by Ethiopian Airlines was discreetly allowed to be the sole bidder and winner, contrary to the principles of free and fair competition.

The 2nd defendant’s business plan also proposed strategies that could stultify the operations of local airlines, further jeopardising the Nigerian aviation industry.

Additionally, the plaintiffs disclosed that the transaction advisor for the deal was inadequately qualified and lacked the necessary experience, raising further concerns about the legitimacy of the bidding process.

The plaintiffs asserted that the entire process was marred by politics and personal interests, designed to achieve an outcome detrimental to Nigerian airlines and the broader public interest.

They sought an order to nullify the entire bidding and selection process for the Nigeria Air project as well as the approval and selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the defendants.

In the judgement, delivered on Monday, Justice Lewis-Allagoa discountenanced the sole issue raised by the 2nd defendant (Ethiopian Airlines).

He held, “All the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs are granted except for relief number eight.

Detailing the project’s flaws, Keyamo criticized the so-called ‘national carrier’ for its secrecy and fraudulent activities, which betrayed its promise as an indigenous initiative intended to inspire hope among Nigerians.

Speaking to journalists during the Ministerial Sectorial update in Abuja on Monday, Keyamo declared that Nigeria Air remains suspended, labeling the project as anti-Nigerian.

“It was never Air Nigeria, it was Ethiopian trying to fly our flag. It was not Air Nigeria. That is the truth. It was not Nigeria. It only printed Air Nigeria. It was an Ethiopian airline trying to fly our flag. If it is so, why not allow our local people to fly our flag? Why bring a foreigner to fly our flag?

“So nobody should deceive you that it is Air Nigeria. Air Nigeria must be indigenous, must be wholly Nigerian or must be for the full benefit of Nigerians, not that 60 per cent of the profit is given to another country. How does that benefit us? It remains suspended. It remains so,” he said.

Speaking on some of the steps so far taken to improve economic development in the aviation sector, Keyamo highlighted the commencement of cargo flights to Saudi Arabia, noting that it would enable Nigeria to tap into the $6 trillion global cargo market.

“We have agreed that we’re going to resume cargo flights between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. This has been suspended for a long time but now cargo flights are back.

“Guess what? Air cargo trade accounts for 35 per cent of the world trade deficit and air cargo trade according to the International Air Transport Association, IATA, attracts about $6 trillion annually and we’re missing you know, within that sector we were missing in many routes around the world and we have achieved that,” he said.

This is as he suggested that the country should rather invest in a flagbearer airline than a national carrier, which he described as a ‘moribund’.

Onyema, who spoke on Arise Television’s morning show on Wednesday, criticised the shareholding structure of the airline, saying that it favours Ethiopia. He argued that Nigeria is contributing the financial investment for the airline, while Ethiopia is set to earn 49% of the venture without actually putting any money into it.

The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government took delivery of the first plane of the country’s national carrier, Nigeria Air, amid protest from local airline operators that it was contrary to a court order, which barred the government from taking further action on the project.

The Air Peace boss further revealed that in 2019, Ethiopian Airlines approached Air Peace for a partnership, but he turned down the offer because of his patriotism for Nigeria, adding that according to the agreement signed for the stake in Nigeria Air, Ethiopians were not expected to bring in any money as an investment into the project.

Also, he alleged that the leadership of the entire management of the proposed Nigeria Air—the DFO, CEO, and all the management positions—were to be headed by Ethiopians while the deputy position was given to Nigeria.

Onyema stressed that the unveiling of Nigeria Air despite the litigation was a total disrespect of the judiciary that should not be tolerated.

On the agreement between Nigeria Air and Ethiopian Airlines, he said, “The leadership of the entire management—DFO, CEO, all the management positions—was to be headed by Ethiopians while the deputy slots were given to Nigeria.

“Look at the shareholding; ET has 49%; there is a company called Fairfax, who is this Fairfax? It is owned by ET; their transaction advisers and they are going to get three per cent, 1.4/1.5% of the shareholding capital which is put at $250m and ET will bring $122m but not as cash but as rentals.

“It is only the Nigerian companies that are going to bring money; SAHCO and MRS. I have the document here. ET is not bringing a penny into Nigeria; ET will pay rentals for their plane for five years. It is written here in black and white. Even if they pay the $122 million, Air Peace alone is worth over $2 billion. As I speak to you, Boeing is in my office now for the delivery of our 737 Max, which is costing over a billion dollars.

He added, ”The aircraft from Embraer that we started receiving cost about a billion dollars; five of them have entered Nigeria; ET is bringing nothing and they are going to get 49% of your country’s wealth. I call on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to immediately dissolve this charade called Nigeria Air and start his own thing.”

Speaking on why the idea of owning a national carrier should be abandoned, Onyema said, “Contrary to what the minister has been saying about Nigeria and the importance of having a national carrier, the national carrier is a moribund idea worldwide. Countries don’t go that route any more, it is a drain on any country. Those who are in it are running out of it. The phrase national carrier means government ownership. What governments do these days are flag carriers.

“British Airways is a flag carrier; it is owned by the IAG group. Only a very few countries are still into national carriers like South Africa, and South African Airways is bleeding the treasury of the country. They have tried to close it several times, but the unions fight back; the government is tired.

“Countries don’t go that route, why should Nigeria in 2023 be going backwards instead of moving forward? All they needed to do was strengthen the ease of doing business so that people of means, and private concerns of means could invest in the aviation industry.

He added, ”We are not fighting for ourselves and neither are we afraid of competition, nobody is afraid of this national carrier because it will fall and fail like a pack of cards. What we are saying in AON is that they should improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria, remove those challenges that are stunting the growth of airlines in Nigeria and these airlines will blossom, but they did not.”

On whether Air Peace was interested in partnering with Nigeria Air, he said: “When they wanted to do the national carrier, we gave our comments and we knew the whole thing was shrouded in secrecy, our members told Air Peace to apply and when you go to that website, you will be blocked. We never got anywhere. We did try.”

Speaking on why it was yet to commence London flights, he said, “When we applied, first of all, to get the destination, it was difficult. Later, when I was given a destination, they gave us three frequencies. I cried out, I said, “Why these? This is a low-hanging fruit of a six-hour trip; I can do daily flights to London. They told me that another airline, OmniBlu, was also getting some frequency and I was asking, “Whose airline is OmniBlu in Nigeria? Later, they increased it to four and then we applied.

“You need to apply for TCO; they wrote to the Nigerian authorities to ask if they know about Air Peace and I was denied. They said no, we didn’t know them, we didn’t know they were applying, we didn’t authorise them to apply and I said for what? So TCO, that’s the European Tech Companies Operators, you need to get this before going into any European countries for operations; they stopped us.

“NCAA didn’t allow us to go into London for four years; the reasons they gave were that Arik messed up, Arik and Medview messed up in London, therefore, we don’t want to be disgraced. Not NCAA under the present DG. In fact, to the credit of the current DG, he was the one who took up the fight with the government. In fact, almost stopped British Airlines from coming here.

“The other DG before him, for four years we were not allowed to go, so who was manipulating them? For no reason, when you go, they say ‘from above’ I wanted to fight, but for the love of my country, there are some things I would say that would turn into ethnic issues, and I don’t want that, so I kept my cool.

“Later the NCAA said we should get an IATA audit on TCO; mind you, we have IOSA, and that is the highest international safety audit for any airline. We spent hundreds of millions of dollars to do that, and at the end of the day, Air Peace passed the audit and then they said, “Now we have to audit you ourselves.” The game continued until Musa Nuhu stepped in and said enough is enough before they now allowed us to apply. We are still on it.”

He also hinted that plans are ongoing to distribute palliatives to its staff as part of measures to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.

He said, “The minimum wage in Air Peace is about N50,000 and we are in support of President Ahmed Tinubu. We addressed our staff to support the removal of the fuel subsidy and we are going to support them.

“Beginning this month, we are going to dish out palliatives to our staff in support of the government,” Onyema said.

Recall a few weeks ago, an aircraft bearing the logo of Nigeria Air was sighted in Abuja.

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Aviation on Tuesday, Olumide said the plane was chartered from Ethiopian Airlines to launch the country’s official airline.

The Nigeria Air MD added that his mandate is to secure an operating licence for the airline that is still in its early stages.
He said;

“It is a pleasure to be here and to finally make our position known where I can clarify all the misconceptions regarding Nigeria Air as it pertains to the technical aspects of it.

“As you know this airline was launched with the logo in 2018. Several things have transpired since then that has nothing to do with me.

“I was invited last February, my mandate is to secure an air operating certificate for the airline not necessarily to operate the airline but to secure a licence to fly. And that is entirely my responsibility.”

Senator Olujimi, Chairman of the Committee on Aviation, expressed her thoughts on the situation adding that the arrangement of the Nigeria Air was shrouded in suspicion.

Olumide, while responding to Olujimi’s question said the aircraft, causing the conversation did not require a licence, as it was hired.

He said, “I will like to address your question first before I go on. The aircraft that came in and left was a legitimate charter flight. Anyone of us here if we have a destination wedding in Senegal, we can charter an aircraft.

You don’t need to have a licence to do that, you just charter an aircraft, an aircraft you paid for it, it will be brought here, take your passengers, and off you go.

“And that is what we did. But in this case, it was to unveil. Ever since 2018, all you have ever seen about Nigeria Aircraft were pictures, and drawings, not the real aircraft, and we thought it was time to show what the real aircraft will look like and also to let shareholders know.

“You see we have institutional investors, they are not in aviation, but they are putting their money for 10 or 15 years and to exit may be at the premium. So they need to see what the actual aircraft will look like.

“So we brought it in here to show them what the aircraft will look like. Then the social media dimension came into it.

“It is an Ethiopian-registered one. Why is it Ethiopian-registered? To operate aircraft in Nigeria, they must be Nigerian registered; on 5th November. That aircraft was not on 5th November registered because it was a chartered flight and it came in with just a few day’s clearance and off it went.

“For us to get that licence which is my mandate, we must among other things have three aircraft before the NCAA will give us a licence and those three aircraft must be Nigerian-registered aircraft.”

“There are five steps that one goes through to have a licence. We have gone from the first one to the second one but the problem is that when you change what we call post holders.

“Post holder is a technical term for director of maintenance, or chief pilot, when you change them and replace them completely, you have to go back to phase one to interview them to be compliant to the authority, to the civil authority. But haven gone back to phase one doesn’t mean you have done anything thing wrong. That is a correct and normal process.

“So when this aircraft came on a chartered flight, everybody said we have launched Nigeria Air.
“There are learned people in the aviation industry who could have countered that when social media came out, they chose not to.”

Dr. Emmanuel Meribole, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, has been summoned to attend the meeting along with all relevant documents and personnel associated with the national carrier.

According to reports, the Federal Government revealed Nigeria Air to the nation on Friday, causing significant nationwide uproar.

It was further disclosed that Ethiopian Airline repainted and rebranded one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft at a cost of N139.3 billion ($300 million), solely for the purpose of the painting job.

An invitation memorandum, dated May 30, 2023, and bearing reference number NASS/9/HR17/120, was issued by the committee clerk, Bassy Edem.

The memorandum stated, “On Friday, May 26, 2023, the nation was flooded with viral reports and videos of the Nigeria Air project unveiling under highly controversial circumstances.

As a parliamentary committee entrusted with overseeing the aviation sector of the economy, we consider it necessary to receive a comprehensive briefing on the project.”

The memorandum further directed Dr. Meribole to attend an emergency session with the committee on Thursday, June 1, 2023, and requested his presence along with all individuals and agencies associated with the project.

However, it has been reported that the Permanent Secretary requested additional time to gather all the required documents and individuals related to the project.

Consequently, the meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, June 7, based on the ministry’s appeal for additional time.

The invitation listed several documents that are demanded, including:

i. The full business case (FBC) prepared by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

ii. Complete disclosure of the ownership structure of Nigeria Air, including details of equity contributions made by individuals, organizations, and consortiums. This should include names, addresses, phone numbers, and registration certificates of businesses involved.

iii. All private-public partnership (PPP) agreements reached and signed with Ethiopian Airlines regarding the project.

iv. All private-public partnership agreements reached and signed with other stakeholders in Nigeria Air.

v. Pertinent documents, permits, and receipts relating to the subject matter.

vi. Shareholders’ agreements.

vii. Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) agreement.

viii. Any other documents that can assist the committee in carrying out its assignment.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, shared a video of the plane’s movement on his verified Twitter account on Friday.

In his tweet, Sirika expressed gratitude to Almighty God for the accomplishment, acknowledging the arduous and challenging journey it had been.

He extended his thanks to everyone who supported the project and expressed hope that the airline would bring benefits to Nigeria and future generations.

Sirika concluded by praying to Allah for the success and positive impact of the venture on the country and humanity.

The minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this revelation at the ongoing National Aviation Stakeholders Forum 2023 in Abuja on Thursday.

“Negotiation meeting with the Ethiopian Airlines Group Consortium and the Federal Government of Nigeria ongoing.

“Next step: Federal Executive Council approval of the Full Business Case.

Operation of local and international flights will commence soon. Before the end of this administration, before May 29, we will fly,” the minister said.

Speaking further, the minister said the benefits Nigeria stands to derive from the establishment of the national carrier are reduced capital flight from Nigeria; gain the optimal benefit of BASA and SAATM and develop an aviation hub.

Also, the National carrier will contribute to the GDP; facilitate hospitality and tourism; facilitate growth and development of the Nigerian Agricultural Sector and create jobs around the Agro-Cargo Terminals.

At the conclusion of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting on Wednesday at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, made this announcement while briefing State House reporters.

He added that N721,266,733.64 has been approved by the council for the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano’s upkeep and technical assistance.

“Today in Council, Aviation had one memo and this memorandum is a contract that was awarded to CCECC and it is for the airport maintenance and technical support at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and… for a period of 12 months and the sum of the contract is N721,266,733.64 and the memorandum was approved.”

On the likelihood of when the national carrier, Nigeria Air, should be expected to commence flight operations, the Minister explained that the federal government was already done with the initial processes and that it is just a matter of sealing the last move in obtaining the Air Operator Certificates (AOC) and the carrier will start flying.

He said:  “Nigeria Air will soon start flying, we’ve got the aircrafts ready, they’re painted in the colours. We’ve crossed all the Ts and dotted the Is. We’re at stage five of the AOC issuance by the NCAA. Once that is done, the airline will begin to fly.

“So there are five stages, we’ve done stage 1,2,3,4 and we are now at stage five, once the AOC is given, the aircraft is ready to start to fly. Well, because the issuance of the AOC is in the hands of the NCAA, but I know it will be very soon, with an emphasis on soon. So as soon as we get the AOC, then we fly”, he said.

Asked if the kick-off of flight operations had been a result of the litigation by some Nigerian airliners, Sirika said “there’s no injunction against Nigeria Air’s operation, to my knowledge.

“The grievances by some airlines, for example, United, Azman, Max Air, Air Peace, if you are referring to that case that they instituted. Okay if you are referring to that case, I have no comment about it.

“I thought you were talking about something different, but if it’s that case, you have asked me before on this platform and I told you that it’s subjudice, it’s in court, so I can’t talk about it”, he said.

Meanwhile, the FEC approved the sum of N117,721,266,733 for contracts in the Petroleum Resources and Aviation ministries.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said Council approved the sum of N117 billion for the construction of the Oloibiri Oil Museum and Research Centre in Bayelsa State.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stated this during a stakeholders appreciation forum for the reconstruction of the Lagos airport runway 18L.

The minister revealed that aviation stakeholders and unions had more than enough time to participate in the process rather than wait till the project reached a substantial point to engage in legal suit to stall the project.

Sirika revealed that he personally engaged indigenous carriers to participate in the project including Air Peace, but they turned down the invitation stating that he wasn’t formal in his approach.

Sirika said he does not see the possibility of any court of competent jurisdiction erecting a road block to the emergence of the national carrier.

“I have been very transparent in the processes put in place to deliver the national carrier. If anyone wants to invest in a company, no one can stop them from investing. You can own a company 100 percent. If anyone wants to invest, why not ? We want foreign direct investment,” Sirika said.

The Minister gave this assurance while interacting with the Senate Press Corps at the National Assembly after he had a session with the Senate Committee on Aviation, where airline operators attended in protest.

Sirika, who attended the meeting with all heads of agencies under the Ministry of Aviation, insisted that there is no going back on the planned take-off of the national carrier, stressing the economic and social benefits of the national carrier.

Earlier, domestic Airline operators in Nigeria have been kicking against the project on the ground of making Ethiopian Airline the major investor in the business.

They were at the meeting in their numbers, expressing their resistance to the policy that made Ethiopian airlines a major investor.

But reacting to questions on the controversy, Hadi Siriki said, Nigeria Air is a ‘Limited Liability Company owned by the Federal government and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a legal entity.’

He said: “Nigeria Air is a company that is registered and known to the laws of Nigeria which will become by the God’s grace the much awaited airline.

“It is going to happen by the grace of God between now and December of this year. It will fly and also compete fairly with all of those existing airlines.

“The intent is not to kill any business. The intent is to help to promote all businesses to be able to provide the needed service and employ our people.

“This is the intent and the more the merrier. The more that you have people doing business, then the one that does it better takes the advantage and they give more service and the people get served better.

“If everyone of them is doing very well without any favouritism, then it means that the competition will be healthy and will bring down the price of tickets and increase the propensity to fly and make more people to fly and then make more money for the airlines and give more service to the country Nigeria.

“The idea is a very good one. Whether it will be established by the grace of God, it will be established and it will be for the people”, he said.

In their submissions before the committee, the Domestic Airline operators said they are not against National Carrier but against Ethiopian Airlines as a major investor with 49% equity share.

The Domestic Airline Operators who expressed their opposition to the plan by the President of Top Brass Aviation and former Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Roland Iyayi, said the project as conceived today, is inimical to domestic operators.

“Ethiopia does not have an agenda to grow Nigeria. The agenda of Ethiopia over the years, has been on Aviation colonialism in Africa.

“Ethiopia does not have an agenda to grow Nigeria. The agenda of Ethiopia over the years, has been on Aviation colonialism in Africa.

“The National Carrier or Nigeria Air project if well implemented, would be a good legacy but as it is presently conceived, it will end up to be legacy that will lead to demise of local airlines”, he insisted.