Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has criticised the arrangement between Ethiopian Airlines and the previous government over the operation of Nigeria Air.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, Nigeria Air went silent for six months following a lavish celebration on May 26, 2023, to mark the arrival of its first aircraft, a Boeing 737-800.
Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (46 percent), Ethiopian Airlines (49 percent), and the Federal Government (5 percent) own the same percentage of Nigeria Air, which was founded in 2018.
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Following this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rick Villa, Keyamo told State House Correspondents that President Bola Tinubu will decide the Nigeria Air Project’s next course of action.
Keyamo said: “I cannot preempt my President. I cannot…now we have looked at all the issues, and it’s before Mr. President,” arguing that it would be “irresponsible“ of the Federal Government to follow through on a deal that gives monopoly of Nigeria’s aviation industry to a foreign entity.
Citing waivers and staffing arrangements, the Minister disclosed that certain aspects of the agreement signed with Ethiopian Airlines, the deal’s principal shareholder, needed to be carefully examined again in the best interests of the country.
He said, “In the agreement, you are giving tax waivers to Ethiopian Airlines coming into Nigeria. They asked for five-year tax waivers, and you granted them to come and compete with your local airline, which are paying those heavy taxes.
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“How? Do you want to create a monopoly? That’s why when they tell you that we want to crash price by… it’s a lie. It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“The only thing that brings down prices in the commercial world is fair competition.”
“In the agreement, they also made a proposal that they will appoint everybody; top management, everybody Ethiopian, in Nigeria, and we agreed. We agreed!” he emphasised.
Keyamo, however, stated that all details are before the President for consideration, and Tinubu will make the final decision.
“I have heard all kinds of things going on, all kinds of brickbats in the social media, but I cannot preempt my President.
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“All the documents, all the reports, everything, we have forwarded to Mr. President, the issues we’ve met on the ground.
“I feel the pulse of Nigerians. Even the National Assembly raised concerns over that, and so many stakeholders. It would have been irresponsible to close my eyes totally to those concerns. So because of that, we suspended it, to say that let’s just look at all the issues and recommend,” he explained.
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