A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Haruna Garus Gololo, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute former minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, other officials involved in the controversial ‘launch’ of the Nigeria Air.
The interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Dapo Olumide, had on Tuesday during investigative hearing of the Senate Aviation committee disclosed that the aircraft that flew in to Abuja with the logo of Nigeria Air was chartered from Ethiopian Airlines for the purpose of unveiling the logo on real plane.
He also said the airline was yet to secure an operating licence for full flight operations.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, Gololo urged the EFCC to probe the project, former minister and other key participants of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration involved.
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He said if the EFCC could go after alleged cyber criminals, the anti-graft agency could as well go after the government officials for alleged fraud that dogged the national carrier project and other policies of the previous administration.
“Only yesterday the Senate Committee on Aviation confirmed the fear and suspicion of many Nigerians, when it unearthed the issues in the aviation sector by the immediate past minister, indicating that procurement of Nigeria Air was a scam which gulped billions of tax payers funds,” he said.
Gololo, who was Coordinator of the North-East Tinubu, Shettima support group during the general elections, asked, “What happened to the M11.3 trillion spent on the Turn Around Maintenance ( TAM), of the Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries? But today the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, who awarded the contracts, has gone to run for governorship election to seek immunity. There are several other MDAs that were looted under Buhari’s administration.”
He expressed displeasure over the appointment of the new Executive Director of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) by the out -gone administration, saying that the appointee was in NNPC while refineries remained functional.
