Without mincing words, the management of Nigeria’s leading aviation firm, Air Peace, has accused embattled former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, of lying in an interview he granted Arise Television.
Sirika and the Ministry of Aviation he headed, have been roundly accused by federal lawmakers of orchestrating a fraud in the unveiling of Nigeria Air, the country’s national carrier.
In a push-back and defending his actions, Sirika took a swipe at Air Peace, but the airline in a Monday statement said: “We watched with dismay the interview granted by former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika to Arise TV on Sunday, June 11, 2023, where he made spurious claims about Air Peace, Nigeria’s foremost airline.
“Air Peace deems it absolutely necessary to debunk these false assertions.
“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?” He stated that Ethiopian Airline 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.
“For the former minister to ascribe the suspension to ‘lack of capacity’ is not only shocking but also shows how keen he is to disparage an airline which 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 lock-downs be accused of lacking in capacity?”
The former Minister of Aviation, had also disclosed that the national carrier was not unveiled by the federal government of Nigeria but by the national carrier’s shareholders.
He accused the Chairman of House Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, of asking for 5 percent of Nigerian Air.
Nnaji, during a hearing by the House of Representatives, unequivocally described the launch of Nigeria Air a fraud.
But in his interview on Arise TV, Sirika said: “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.
“He asked me that please I should give him 5 percent of Nigeria Air to carry him along with his people. I said to him that time that look, Honourable, but he did not understand me, this is a bidding process that has taken place and some persons won. So, I think he should go to those people and asked them about the 5 per cent”.
He added that only N3 billion was released for the Nigeria Air project and that the funds were spent on consultive services, stressing that the N3 billion had not been fully expended before he left the office on May 29.
According to him, the government did not pay for the chartered Ethiopian aircraft showcased as Nigeria Air, which he said was brought by Ethiopian Airlines to demonstrate commitment to the project.
Denying the allegation of spending N85 billion on the project, he said the total money budgeted for the project since 2018 was N5 billion, out of which N3 billion had been disbursed.
He declared that the country did not pay for the Chartered Ethiopian Aircraft showcased a few days before President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration ended.
“From 2016 to 2023, all the money voted and budgeted for Nigeria Air is N5 billion. But all that was released was in the neighbourhood of N3 billion, 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, consultive 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.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, said Sirika is a drowning man and advised him to tell the truth about Nigeria Air.
“On May 20th 2023, l received reports of threats of mass resignations by key personnel of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA),” he said.
The threat, according to him, followed pressures from the Ministry to give waivers to Nigeria Air to enable it secure Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) so that it could take off before President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office.
Nnaji said he issued a statement warning the former Minister against subverting the authority of NCAA because of its severe consequences on the air transport sector.
“It is also common knowledge that the Nigerian institutional investors he mentioned as participants have all denied him.
“It is not strange that Sirika came up with these spurious allegations against my person because l remained consistent in demanding that he followed due process. He should not deviate from the subject”, Nnaji added.