By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Immediate-past Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has disclosed that not a dime was paid for chattering the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft that was used for the unveiling of Nigeria Air, Daily Trust reports.
Recall that it was reported how the Federal Government flew in a Boeing 737-800 series aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines into Abuja for the unveiling of Nigeria Air.
Shortly after the aircraft landed, Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, expressed delight that after “a very long, tedious, daunting and difficult path”, the project had taken off.
However, the minister was silent on many details about the aircraft and project launch despite multiple questions from the public.
Checks by the medium showed that the aircraft flew for its original airline a few days before it was rebranded and flown into Nigeria on May 26.
Flightradar, the popular flight tracking website, said the aircraft operated between Tel Aviv and Mogadishu, Somalia, still on May 21, 2023.
On 20th May, it operated both Mogadishu in Somalia and Beirut on 20th May while the previous day it also serviced Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Sirika did not respond to the medium’s inquiries at the time.
But when the Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Capt. Dapo Olumide, appeared before the Senate Committee on Aviation, he opened up that the aircraft was chartered.
Asked to state how much was spent for the trip when he featured on ARISE TV on Sunday, Sirika said no dime was spent on the exercise.
Sirika said the unveiling with the ET-registered aircraft was a marketing strategy adopted by the shareholders of the airline and not his decision, adding he was only invited to partake in the unveiling, which held at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The former minister, who disclosed that only N5 billion was budgeted for the national carrier since 2016 when the project started, added that out of the N5 billion, only N3 billion was released which was utilised for transaction advisory services, consultancy services, the process of getting the Air Operator’s Service (AOC), office accommodation in Abuja and salaries of staff.
Clearing air on the project, the Minister said, “All the money voted for national carrier was N5 billion and only N3 billion released and it has not been fully expended as of the time I was leaving. The money was meant for transaction advisory service, salaries, consultancy services and AOC.”
He faulted the claim that N85 billion was spent on the project, saying, “N85 billion is in the head of the person who said it.”
Source: Daily Trust
 | ReplyForward |
