*Alleges minister repainted Ethiopian aircraft to pass off as Nigerian airline
*Accuses minister of desperate attempt to justify N15.9bn appropriated by the federal government to Nigeria Air since 2016
*Wants share agreement that gave Ethiopian Airlines 49%, other undue previlleges, 3% to Fairfax Ltd probed
*Says act in disobedience of existing court orders
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
An anti-corruption group, SecureWorld and Liberty Initiative for Peace (SELIP),
at the weekend, petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) and urged the anti-graft agency to probe the outgoing Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over alleged use of the establishment of a national carrier, Nigeria Air, to perpetrate fraud and commit economic sabotage.
The petition, which was addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was signed by the Executive Director of SELIP, Mark Adebayo.
The group called on the commission to investigate the outgoing minister for undertaking ventures designed to benefit a few individuals and lead to the eventual collapse of the aviation industry, a critical sector of the Nigerian economy.
It noted with dismay the unveiling of an aircraft last Friday, in Abuja, purportedly belonging to Nigeria Air, despite an existing court order restraining the minister from taking any action regarding the project.
The group alleged that in a desperate bid to hoodwink President Muhammadu Buhari’s government and the generality of Nigerians, the minister imported a repainted aircraft owned by Ethiopian Airlines and passed it off as the maiden flight belonging to Nigeria Air.
The civil society group averred that the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos headed by Justice A.L Allagoa, in a suit filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria, had granted three separate orders of injunctions, restraining the federal government from taking any step about the Nigeria Air project “but the minister in a desperate bid to cover up the monumental fraud in the deal elected to flagrantly disobey an order of a court of competent jurisdiction and produced a sham called unveiling of Nigeria Air flight last Friday.”
“We are compelled to bring to your attention that the aircraft purportedly unveiled on Friday, May 26, 2023, by Minister Sirika, as the first flight of the national carrier, Nigeria Air, is still in active service of Ethiopia Airlines. We can confirm that the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 with the registration number ET-APL, has since left the country this weekend for Turkey according to a check on the flight radar; it only transited Nigeria for the farce of a show put up by the minister.
“The flight landing in the country with Ethiopia Airlines’ registration number means Nigeria Air has no Air Operator Certificate (AOC). No aircraft can be registered in Nigeria without the carrier having an AOC which means that the aircraft does not belong to Nigeria Air either as leased or owned equipment. So, Sirika should not be allowed to fool Nigerians,” the petitioner said.
The group, therefore, urged the anti-graft agency to make Sirika account for a whopping N15.9 billion that has been committed so far to the project by the federal government, alleging that the desperation by the minister is geared towards covering up the misappropriation of funds and monumental fraud.
“The unveiling was a desperate attempt to justify the N15.9 billion appropriated by the federal government to Nigeria Air since 2016. The phantom project has continued to lick up budgetary provisions.
“N1.3 billion was allotted to it in the 2023 budget with an additional N700 million as ‘working capital’ and N200 million as consultancy fee so, the minister must not be allowed to hoodwink Nigerians with the importation of a rented aircraft into the country and pass it off as a step to the commencement of the operation of the airline days to his exit from office. This act of fraud and economic terrorism must not be allowed to go unpunished,” the petition read.
It said Sirika claimed that Nigeria Air Limited was a private sector-led airline, with only five per cent of the company owned by the Nigerian government. The minister had also added that a consortium of entrepreneurs in Nigeria owns 46 per cent while investors in Ethiopian Airlines retain 49 per cent of the shares.
However, SELIP in the petition, countered the minister saying the conception and implementation of the national carrier project were shrouded in ambiguity and designed to defraud the people of Nigeria by a few Nigerians in connivance with their international collaborators.
“The lack of transparency on funding and alleged zero consideration for local players and national interest is frightening as the proposed shareholders’ agreement reserves all executive directors positions for the Ethiopians with Nigerians as deputies,” it stated.
SELIP said Sirika must be compelled to explain why in the proposed shareholder
agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will also collect millions of dollars yearly as management fees despite having 49% shares and why the East African company will attract such grace by using just their own planes as contributions to the project.
The group also charged the EFCC to probe the 3% of the total shares allocated to Fairfax Ltd which was appointed as the transaction adviser to the project.
SELIP appealed to the anti-graft agency to probe the deal that granted Fairfax Nigeria Limited the shares without paying a dime.
“This company will also be paid millions of dollars monthly and will be in charge of procurement for Nigeria Air. There is overwhelming evidence that Sirika has a substantial interest in Fairfax Nigeria Limited albeit by proxies, and one of the most curious things is why a firm incorporated in March 2021 without robust experience in the aviation industry will be factored into such a monumental project.
“Please, use your good office to probe the perpetration of conflict of interest and grand fraud against the Nigerian people so that sanity will be restored in that sector and cause a rebound in the confidence of investors in the industry,” the group said.
SELIP said the implementation of the project is capable of undermining the efforts of the incoming Bola Tinubu administration and the EFCC must make the promoters of the phantom deal face the full wrath of the law.
“Being a high flight risk after May 29th, 2023, we demand the immediate arrest of Minister Hadi Sirika before he flees the country. We urge your commission to keep perfect vigilance on Minister Sirika and not allow him to escape from these shores but be made to answer for his massive corruption that is bound to harm the critical sector of Nigeria’s Aviation Industry.
“This scam can only be compared to the daring scam by a Nigerian who sold a phantom airport to some Brazilians years ago. We are sure the commission has an institutional memory of that obnoxious financial crime that caused Nigeria international embarrassment. The current scam is no less obnoxious.
“We have confidence that the EFCC will do justice and timely, too, to get to the bottom of this scam and save Nigeria’s aviation industry from the impending doom,” the petition read.
