According to the Senate, Nigeria Air cannot take off without approval from the National Assembly.
This was mentioned by the Senate’s aviation committee on Thursday during a discussion with industry participants.
Senator Biodun Olujimi, the chairman of the committee, reminded the participants that Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation, had committed to launch the airline in December before going public and had provided a strategy for the ministry at the previous interactive session.
“He promised us that Nigeria Air would debut, but the launch never happened. Then, all of a sudden, we heard that the minister had stated that Nigeria Air will launch before May 29th, despite numerous other problems that are now plaguing the aviation business.
According to his previous presentation, we had assumed the minister would be present to respond to these questions. However, since nothing is currently on the National Assembly’s agenda, we need comments on the current state of affairs. After all, no airline can begin operations without the National Assembly’s approval and approval that the information being sold to the public is genuine. When the minister visited us in October, he promised that the project would be inaugurated in December 2022, but that didn’t happen.
“We don’t take sides on the stranded fund’s debate, and we were astonished when the president weighed in on the Emirates controversy and the airline decided to make fun of Nigeria by announcing they wouldn’t be returning. We must be aware of what is happening, she continued.
Olujimi further mentioned that the Senate had credible information that the ministry was prohibited from working with the national carrier by a court order involving the Federal Government and local carriers operating under the name Airline Operators of Nigeria.
She asked, “What is the status of this injunction.”
The minister responded by telling the Senate that judicial injunctions had prevented the airline’s debut. The minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Emmanuel Meribole.
You may remember that in October, he gave us a blueprint for completing the Air Nigeria project without being hindered by the legal system, he stated.
“I’m glad the stakeholders explained why we selected the Ethiopian Airline Groups, which were anticipated to hold 49%, the government 5%, and other local investors will receive 46%, making it 51%. We used this mode because the former Nigeria Air or the Nigerian highway had problems, which is why we used this mode. Unfortunately, the airlines sued us after we launched it, contrary to what we had anticipated.
One of the court orders, according to Meribole, was to halt talks between the ministry and Ethiopian Airlines until the case was resolved.
But that didn’t stop other things, he continued. We need a master agreement and the air operators’ certificate in December, soon before the court case.
“One of the things you do is submit to the regulating body, which is the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, which was submitted on December 21st, just before the court case, for the pilots who are here and the airline to fly. Also, we gave a list of the critical workforce in the operation’s handbook.
stated the permanent secretary. “What the court case has merely done is to say, ‘Stop the negotiations with Ethiopian Airlines until you complete the court cases.’ It began in Lagos and as of yesterday, it has been relocated back to Abuja, and they have given us another date in April for the case’s resolution. We believe that if we leave that, what would be left will be used to service the aeroplanes in Nigeria.
The government made notice of Ethiopian Airlines’ pledge to fly two Boeing 787s and six Boeing 737s into Nigeria.
