The Federal Government has indefinitely suspended the Air Nigeria Airline project, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, announced during a ministerial briefing marking the first year of the Tinubu administration on Monday.
Keyamo clarified, “It remains suspended and it was never truly Air Nigeria. It was only labeled Air Nigeria. It was Ethiopian Airlines trying to fly our flag. If that’s the case, why not allow our local people to fly our flag? Why bring foreign airlines to do so? Nobody should deceive you that it was Air Nigeria.”
Keyamo also hinted at plans to resume cargo flights between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
Back in January, the minister revealed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had commenced an investigation into the controversial Nigeria Air deal sealed by the Federal Government during the tenure of former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika. “There is a criminal investigation going on. I have called for the report,” Keyamo stated.
Last August, shortly after his appointment as minister, Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), criticized Sirika’s deal and suspended the project, which had been hastily unveiled just days before the end of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, to allow for a proper audit of the contracts involved.
The controversy surrounding the establishment of Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigeria Air, led veteran aviator Girma Wake to resign as Chairman of Ethiopian Airlines.
Tthe then Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Capt. Dapo Olumide, explained that the aircraft used for the unveiling of the national carrier was a legitimate chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines and was returned after the unveiling on the last day of Buhari’s administration in May 2023.
Both the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Aviation have labeled the launch of Nigeria Air as a fraud.
