Nigeria Air collapse linked to domestic operators – Sirika

Nigeria’s former aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, said on Tuesday that resistance from some domestic airlines was responsible for the collapse of a planned national carrier partnership between the government and Ethiopian Airlines.

Sirika, who led negotiations on the Nigeria Air project during his tenure, said operators including Air Peace, Azman Air and United Nigeria Airlines opposed the deal, arguing the government’s proposed 5% stake was too small.

“It was not a bad deal,” Sirika said in an interview with Channels TV. “We had an airline, but some people went to court to say we cannot establish an airline where we take five per cent. That was what stalled it. If there was no court case, we would have had an airline today.”

The partnership plan, he said, had been cleared by the Federal Executive Council and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), which issued certificates approving the process.

Sirika dismissed reports that 100 billion naira ($63 million) was lost on the failed project, saying only 3 billion naira was released between 2015 and 2023. He said about a third of that went to consultants and the rest to staff salaries.

He defended the choice of Ethiopian Airlines as a strategic partner, citing its 79-year track record and capacity compared with local carriers. “I do not think an airline with five aircraft can compete in the global market with carriers that have 250 planes,” he said.

Sirika, who pledged to write a book on his time in office, urged Nigerians to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents from the aviation ministry and ICRC if they doubted the transparency of the deal.

“This airline, whether now or in the future, will come to be,” he said.

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