House Invites Ahmed, Emefiele, Sirika as Emirates, Other Foreign Airlines Mull Flights’ Withdrawal

Udora  Orizu in Abuja

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has directed the relevant House committees to invite the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and other stakeholders to meet and deliberate on solutions to the notice of withdrawal of services recently issued by Emirates and some international airline operators in the country.

Middle East airline Emirates had announced that it would suspend all flights to Nigeria from September 1, 2022, if their trapped funds are not repatriated.THISDAY learnt that other foreign carriers might soon withdraw their services, unless the federal government opens a discussion with them.

Gbajabiamila in a statement signed by the House Clerk, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, while noting that date of the meeting should be communicated to all the concerned stakeholders, urged all parties in the matter, and specifically, the Emirates Airlines to suspend any action and await the outcome of the meeting.

The statement read in part, “Gbajabiamila has therefore requested the Chairman House Committee on Aviation (Hon. Nnoli Nnaji) and House of Representatives Management to immediately set a date for a meeting with all stakeholders in the aviation sector and the executive arm of government to find urgent solutions to the issues in contention. Specifically, the Hon. Speaker has directed that the following be invited for the meeting: Minister of Finance, CBN Governor.

“Others expected are, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Minister of Aviation, DG NCAA, Country Rep, IATA, Emirate Country Manager, Chairman, Aviation Committee, House of Representatives,Chairman, Banking and Currency, andChairman, Finance Committee. The Hon. Speaker is also aware that the executive arm of government is taking necessary steps to avert any crisis in the aviation sector.”