Says Rep Who Called Nigeria Air Fraud Demanded Bribe From Me
Says Aircraft From Ethiopia Was Marketing Strategy
The immediate-past Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Senator Hadi Sirika, on Sunday, disclosed that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, did not pay for the chartered Ethiopian Airline plane unveiled as ‘Nigeria Air’.
Sirika, who disclosed this while speaking on the controversial project on Arise News Channel, on Sunday, said the aircraft was brought by Ethiopian Airlines to demonstrate commitment to the ‘Nigeria Air’ project.
The former minister, however, clarified that only N3billion was released for the Nigeria Air project, and the funds were spent on consultancy services and office maintenance.
He refuted the allegation of spending N85 billion on the project, emphasising that only N5billion was budgeted and not all of the N3 billion released was expended in the last seven years.
He further stated that the N3 billion had not been fully expended before he left the office on May 29.
According to Sirika, the total money budgeted for the project since 2018 was N5billion, out of which N3billion was disbursed.
“From 2016 to 2023, all of the money voted and budgeted for Nigeria Air is N5billion. But all that was released was in the neighborhood of N3billion, not N85 billion, and not all of the N3 billion has been expended as of the time I left office. What has been done with the money is nothing but to get special advisory services, the AOC processes, salaries, consultative services, and the maintenance of the office in Abuja.
“No contract was awarded by Hadi Sirika, these are the things the money was used for. And there is the Freedom of Information Act, people can apply and get all the information about what the money has been used for. The N85 billion being mentioned is only in the imagination of the people carrying it about.”
The ex-minister, however, admitted that the Ethiopian aircraft that was showcased as the success of the project was chartered.
“The AOC owned by Ethiopian Airline is known to Nigeria and the NCAA. They are permitted to come in either with scheduled passengers, chattered or cargo. They have to come in under one of the 3. So, they came as chartered. Being chartered does not mean that anybody paid for anything. The government did not pay a dime for that aircraft to come in.
“Secondly, there was no revenue passenger in the aircraft because that would have been totally against the law and wouldn’t have been allowed. It was their own marketing strategy as equity partners. They came to do this unveiling on a special allowance called chartered and it does not mean that we paid for it. If anybody was to pay for it, it would have been the Ethiopian Airline, not the Nigerian government. No penny was paid,” the former Minister added.
During a hearing by the House of Representatives, Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, had declared the launch of Nigeria Air a fraud.
He had picked holes in the project, criticising the Federal Government for what he described as poor handling.
Nnaji said after careful evaluation of the matter, his committee was dissatisfied with the actions of Sirika.
“We are equally irked by the role played by Ethiopian Airlines in this whole process. It does not speak well of the excellent brotherly relationship existing between our two nations.”
“A careful review of the process indicates the exercise to be highly opaque, shrouded in secrecy, shoddy and capable of ridiculing and tarnishing the image of Nigeria before the international community,” he had said.
But speaking when he appeared on ARISE TV on Sunday, Sirika said the lawmaker approached him and asked for five percent shares of the airline for “him and his people”.
“On the issue of Hon Nnaji who called Nigeria Air launch a fraud, I will respond now. I will say exactly what I told him in private when we spoke.”
“Hon Nnaji asked me that I should give him 5% of Nigeria to carry him along with his people, and I said to him at that time, Honourable, a bidding process that has taken place, and some people won. So, I think you should go to those people and ask for the 5 percent.”
When Reuben Abati, anchor of the show, asked the former Minister to clarify if the lawmaker indeed asked for bribe for himself and other legislators, Sirika said, “Let’s be fair, Hon Nnaji didn’t say other members. He said he wants it for himself and his people. His people could his be his family, could be members and it could be leadership. I don’t know, but he insisted on 5%. I said that he should relax and approach the owners. That’s exactly what I told him.”
The former Minister also criticised Nnaji and the aviation committee for conducting what translated to a “predetermined hearing”.
‘I was a member of the House of Reps 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, I was a Senator. I know the workings of the National Assembly. He [Nnaji] called for public hearing. And right under the public hearing, he just turned the paper and read the riot act. The practice in the National Assembly is that after hearing people and the complain, you now go and sit down as a committee, discuss the issues, raise them, approach the whole house of reps and take position of the house plus leadership and come back and make your findings known, but not immediately you just read the riot Act out. It means is predetermined.”