Probe fraudulent unveiling of Nigeria Air project

Hurried launch of the Nigeria Air project on the last day of Muhammadu Buhari-led administration smirks of fraud, violation of court orders, and should not go unpunished. All those involved in the executive stunt and conspiracy against the State should account for bringing the country to ridicule – at least to serve as deterrence for other office holders aiming to run a national project like a private enterprise.

In a manner never heard of a national airline roll out, the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, presided over the unveiling of Nigeria Air, shortly after a ‘Nigeria Air’ branded aircraft arrived the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on the last official day of the Buhari administration. While Sirika celebrated giving Nigeria a new national carrier on Twitter, it turned out that the so-called carrier has no Air Operators Certificate (AOC), and therefore does not exist. Besides, the aircraft branded ‘Nigeria Air’ and deployed for static display during the launch, operated with an Ethiopian registration number ET-APL. The ‘Nigeria Air’ aircraft immediately returned to Addis Ababa and currently in use in Ethiopia Airline’s regional operation – far from the shores of Nigeria. By official records of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the branded ‘Nigeria Air’ aircraft does not belong to Nigeria and Nigeria has no national carrier yet.

Recall that the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2015 promised to give Nigeria a new national carrier to replace the defunct Nigeria Airways. But unlike the previous national carrier that was 100 per owned by the government and at the beck and call of public officers, the new project was designed for private investors, with the Federal Government owning only five per cent stake.

Ipso facto, a state-owned airline is not a bad idea. Airliners, branded in national colours, are always elegant assets and national pride globally. They are synonymous to having embassies in motion, showcasing the splendor and economic powers of a country in diplomatic space. With over 100 Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) already racked up by Nigeria, it means 100 potential markets for a new national carrier to operate commercially and unhindered by the aeropolitics that often clip the wings of designated flag carriers and local airlines. But as patronising as the venture sounds, the logic is flawed. Airline business is high-capital intensive and too expensive a bill for national pride alone.

In the case of Nigeria Air, the public could see a white elephant project loading from day one, and with no appeal to any serious investors. First, it was unilaterally christened Nigeria Air by Sirika, and unveiled at London Airshow of 2018 without any prior mention in Nigeria. Except for the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) that approved the Outline Business Case and Federal Executive Council (FEC) that gave a blanket nod of approval, only Sirika knew where the project was headed. He was never or made answerable to anyone. When its call for bidders went global with advert placement in international media for 10 weeks, only Ethiopia Airline showed interest. And the best Nigeria could get from the deal was a national carrier run by all Ethiopian management board, three borrowed aircraft for local operations, and a new airline that has not been registered anywhere!

Tellingly, the case of Nigeria Air smirks of conspiracy, betrayal of trust against the State, or gross incompetence of its handlers. First, the project falls short of a national carrier standard or the set-up of any airline whatsoever. While the Ministry of Aviation was fiddling with the idea for seven years, a sub-national, Akwa Ibom State, floated Ibom Air in about a year of its conception. The airline has in four years of operation emerged one of the most reliable domestic carriers in Nigeria. On the international front, Saudi Arabia floated another national carrier beginning with brand new aircraft in its operation. Ghana is also having another go at national carrier and she has begun with placement for new aircraft at Boeing. At the ongoing Paris Air Show 2023, IndiGo in India placed a firm order for 500 A320 family aircraft, and Air Mauritius confirmed an order for three A350 aircraft to expand its network in Europe and South Asia. So, how did Nigeria get to the sorry pass of hiring airplane to start a new airline?

The unveiling in Abuja was also a violation of court orders and disrespect for the law of the land. A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and another in Abuja had ordered status quo ante pending the determination of the case filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) against the emergence of Nigeria Air run by Ethiopian Airlines – the dominant competitor on the African continent. Whatever the substance of the court case – be it genuine or a ploy to just frustrate the national carrier take-off – the law is sacrosanct and a public office holder in the status of a minister should have a better explanation for brazenly taking the law into his hands.

Besides the national carrier debacle, the entire tenure of Sirika has been suspect. All his projects in the aviation sector deserve a thorough probe. In a manner not different from his handling the Nigeria Air, Sirika ran the air transport sector like a private empire. Against the provision of law, he never inaugurated statutory governing boards of directors for the five aviation agencies. President Buhari had six years ago approved replacements for the former boards. The boards statutorily has the responsibilities to fix the terms and conditions of service for employees, review of yearly reports of the management for submission to the President, presenting yearly budget estimates of the agency to the minister, record-keeping, and audit of the agency among others. In their absence, Sirika unilaterally ran the show. He saw to the prodigal purchase of 10 fire trucks at the cost of N12 billion, among several other purchases that were not accountable to anyone.

We, therefore, call for a commission of inquiry into the national carrier project, especially to determine what to do with it. Inquiry by the Senate and House of Representatives came too late and constitutes a shame on all the members of the aviation committees in both chambers. Both chambers have dubbed the project a fraud, but for eight years of dodgy oversight functions, they never called Sirika to order nor ask critical questions on the Nigeria Air. Sirika has in turn accused the House of Reps Committee Chairman on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, of demanding a five per cent equity kickback to support the project. That should be investigated. Besides, the Federal Government has only five per cent equity stake, yet it kept racking up appropriation votes year-on-year for the project. By reasonable estimate, over N15 billion has cumulatively been budgeted for the project in eight years of Buhari – though Sirika said only N3 billion was released. Details of these and more should be unraveled by a thorough inquiry to expose the sleaze in the aviation sector.

The new administration must also take a long hard look at the aviation sector generally. Clearly, the government has no business in aviation business. Beyond the national carrier project, the government should see to enabling environment for businesses and investors to thrive, and towards solving perennial problems of decrepit airport infrastructure, low capacity and aircraft under-utilisation, multiple taxation, multiple destinations for foreign carriers to the detriment of local operators, foreign exchange scarcity to fund aircraft maintenance and buy spares, scarcity and hike in the cost of aviation fuel. Capacity for solutions to those problems should be the yardstick of choosing the next aviation minister.