Operators laud judiciary for setting aside Nigeria Air project

Airline operators under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have lauded the judiciary for upholding justice and what it described as standing for what is right in its delivery of judgment on August 5, 2024, against the purported sale of Nigeria Air shares and the partnership between it and Ethiopian Airlines.

Justice A. Alagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos declared in the judgment that the action, conduct and or decisions in the sale of the shares and operations of Nigeria Air violated the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, SEC Nigeria Consolidated Rules & Regulations 2013 (as amended in 2022), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Act, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention, Civil Aviation Act, Public Procurement Act, Concession Regulatory Commission (Est.) Act, 2005, Federal  Competition and Consumer Protection Act, Procurement Processes for Public Private Partnership in the Federal Government under the National Policy on Public Private Partnership (N4P) and Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015 and other regulatory statutes on aviation, companies and investment laws in Nigeria.

The court also stood firm on the path of truth by declaring that the entire administrative actions and decisions in the sale of the shares of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines and its pseudo “consortium” are invalid, void and of no effect; adding that Ethiopian Airlines was incompetent to bid for shares in Nigeria Air and commence business accordingly.

 To this end, the court therefore gave an Order setting aside the entire bidding/selection process(es) for the “Nigeria Air” project as well as the approval, grant or selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika in the process.

 The court also gave an Order directing the immediate revocation and cancellation of the Air Transport License (ATL) issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to Nigeria Air Limited; and issued a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, officers, privies, and principals from perfecting, continuing and transferring the operations of Nigeria Air by the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and to Ethiopian Airlines.

 Commenting on the judgment of the court, AON President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, FSAN (Baraden Gaya), said; “The bold and patriotic Declarations and Orders made by the court today leaves no one in doubt that the entire bidding, approval and unveiling processes of the purported national carrier was nothing other than a sham set up to hoodwink Nigerians.

 “It was also a surreptitious plan to kill Nigerian indigenous airlines and handover the commonwealth of Nigeria’s huge aviation market with over 85 Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) around the world to Ethiopian Airlines through the back door without investing a penny into the Nigerian economy and in an attempt to satisfy the whims and caprices of some selfish and unpatriotic individuals.”

 “We, therefore, thank the court for standing tall in the face of untold pressure from very high quarters and for exonerating AON and other well-meaning Nigerian Indigenous airlines for going to court to protect the interest of Nigeria as well as proving truly to be the only hope of the common man.”

 “We equally thank and laud President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government as represented by the current Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN for suspending the Nigeria Air process as planned by the former Minister of Aviation, and for being bold and courageous on this issue. Mr Keyamo saw the truth and aligned with the truth for the sake of the country.”

Wole Shadare