Air Nigeria Controversy: EFCC’s Silence Conspiratorial, Says HURIWA

•Insists Sirika’s excuses indefensible 

•Former aviation minister lied against us, says Air Peace

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Chinedu Eze in Lagos

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), yesterday, described as indefensible, excuses given for the shabby and alleged fraudulent Nigeria Air by the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.

Also, Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace has Sirika of lying against the airline in an interview he granted Arise News Channel on Sunday.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, labelled as conspiratorial, the silence and inaction of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the anti-graft commission’s reluctance to arrest Sirika despite the allegations of fraud levelled against him by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The group also tasked the President Bola Tinubu administration to set up a presidential panel to probe Sirika’s time in office and make the report known to the public.

On Sunday, Sirika, who had been under fire over the Nigeria Air project, had said he spent nearly N3 billion to hire consultants, pay salaries, and cater for the Abuja office of Nigeria Air.

He had also denied embezzling N85 billion meant for the project.

Nigeria Air was launched on May 26, two days to the end of the Muhammadu Buhari government despite a standing court order halting the carrier.

Sirika had also accused a House of Representatives member, Nnolim Nnaji, of asking for five per cent equity shares in the national carrier after the lawmaker described the controversial project as a fraud and condemned the use of an Ethiopian Airlines’ registered aircraft during the launch in May.

Commenting on this, Onwubiko said, “Sirika’s empty explanations haven’t answered the critical questions. The issue is where is Nigeria Air and why hire an aircraft from Ethiopia to deceive Nigerians?

“In fact, aside that the so-called national carrier has not secured a single aircraft for its operations, it has also failed to secure Air Operating Certificate (AOC) from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“The EFCC should stop pretending not to be aware of the case, not after the National Assembly declared it as fraudulent. The anti-graft commission should immediately arrest of former minister while the new administration should set up a presidential panel to probe the whole sham!”

Former Aviation Minister Lied against Us, Says Air Peace

Meanwhile, Air Peace has accused Sirika of lying against the airline in the interview he granted Arise News Channel. The airline alleged that the former Minister made spurious claims about Air Peace and decided to put the records straight in a statement signed by its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mrs. Toyin Olajide.

“Firstly, Sirika, in his bid to denigrate Air Peace while praising Ethiopian Airline, stated that we leased ‘two’ Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000, parked the aircraft for several months and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft engines and landing gears became due for replacement when we were ready to fly.

“He went on to ask, ‘who does that?, stating that Ethiopian Airlines would never do that.

 “This is a blatant lie as we have three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft which were never leased or rented, but were purchased outrightly by the airline. Air Peace never incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals contrary to his lies. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA) can attest to the purchase and ownership of the Aircraft by Air Peace.

 “Secondly, Sirika said the airline stopped flying to Dubai because ‘we lack capacity’. This is another stark lie. Air Peace never stopped the Dubai operations because of lack of capacity.  Air Peace commenced operations into the UAE in July, 2019, but in October 2022, the UAE Government announced a total visa ban on Nigerians.

 “Neither Emirates nor Air Peace is operating the Nigerian/UAE route since the ban. The persisting non-issuance of visas and the accompanying inconveniences necessitated the suspension of our Dubai operations from November 22, 2022 till date,” the airline said.

It also stated that for the former Minister to ascribe the suspension of the airline’s operation to ‘lack of capacity’ was not only shocking, but also showed how keen he was to disparage an airline whose ascendancy, “has defied all the commercial odds and hostile environment placed on its path to continue to serve our nation proudly.”

“How could an airline that placed a firm order for 13 brand new E2-195 aircraft, a firm order of 15 Boeing 737 Max 8 & Max 10, with over 30 aircraft already in its existing fleet be accused of lacking in capacity?

“How can an airline that stood up for the entire nation during the Covid-19 outbreak, and embarked on rescue operations worldwide, evacuating Nigerians from far away China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, UK and South Africa during the Covid-19 lockdowns be accused of lacking capacity?

 “We implore the general public to disregard these lies told by the former Minister of Aviation against Air Peace during the Arise TV Interview. We take serious exception to a situation where Air Peace is being misrepresented in the public sphere, causing wrong perceptions about our brand,” the airline also said.