Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on Thursday queried the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, on why Nigeria has only a 5 per cent stake in the business deal the ministry sealed with Ethiopian Airways to take over the running of Nigerian Air.
The lawmakers, who handed the query on Thursday when the minister and his team appeared before the committee to clarify issues surrounding the Nigeria Air, also faulted the choice of Ethiopian Airways as the preferred investor to manage Nigeria Air.
Gbajabiamila seeks end to health sector brain drain
N52bn scanner can only handle 400 containers per day – Customs
Sirika, had earlier told lawmakers that the Nigerian Air business deal had reached an advanced stage, saying the airline is set to begin operations between now and December.
But the chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Nnoli Nnaji and other lawmakers who spoke during the interactive session, questioned the minister on why Nigeria’s stake in the deal was only 5%.
“We are concerned; One, we are talking about a country, Ethiopia – they are our competitors. They are competing with us, whether we are doing well or not doing well. This is an African continent and we are offloading our basal to Ethiopia, which is a small country.
“The traffic belongs to Nigeria; that we are not doing well today doesn’t mean that we cannot do well tomorrow. We believe that we cannot offload our basal to a small country like Ethiopia,” Nnaji said.
Other lawmakers who expressed concerns over the deal wondered how Ethiopia, a small African country, will have the majority stakes in the flagship airline bearing the name Nigeria Air.
But responding, Sirika said they settled for a 5 per cent stake for Nigeria “because in the wisdom of the ministry and all of us who are steering this project, we don’t believe that the government will have control over a business and it will work.
“We have seen it in the past; we have seen how Nigerian Airways went aground and didn’t produce the desired results. The Nigerian Airways was 100 per cent owned by the federal government.”
He also said they allowed the 5 per cent stake because they want to boost the confidence of the investors that the business is theirs.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
