FG SUSPENDS NIGERIA AIR INDEFINITELY

Read Time:1 Minute, 17 Second

The Nigeria Air project is still “indefinitely” suspended, according to Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development.

Keyamo said as much on Monday in Abuja during the third ministerial briefing, listing the aviation industry’s accomplishments.

Additionally, he made hints about plans to resume freight flights between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

The minister said back in January that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had started looking into the contentious Nigerian Air contract that the Federal Government had closed while Hadi Sirika was the former Minister of Aviation.

He had said “there is a criminal investigation going on. I have called for the report”.

Last August, shortly after he was sworn in as minister, Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), faulted the deal by Sirika and suspended the whole arrangement which was hurriedly unveiled by days to the end of the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, to enable proper audit of contracts.

The controversy surrounding the establishment of Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigeria Air had forced veteran aviator, Girma Wake, to resign as Chairman of Ethiopian Airlines.

The then Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Capt Dapo Olumide, had said the aircraft used to unveil the country’s national career was a legitimate chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines, adding that the aircraft was returned to Ethiopian Airlines after the unveiling on the last day of the Buhari administration in May 2023.

Nigeria’s Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Aviation had both labelled the launch of the Nigeria Air as a fraud.