Aviation scandal: Nigerians rue failure of NASS oversight functions

Messy accusations, denials and counter-accusations have continued to trail the unveiling of the national carrier, Nigeria Air on May 26th, sparking outrage, calls for better oversight functions, and improved governance.

Establishing a national carrier was one of the most anticipated projects that many Nigerians prayed that the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government would deliver during its tenure.

Nigeria Air was a lofty initiative of the Buhari administration to serve as an official national carrier. The commercial airline, stipulated to be a Boeing 737 national carrier, was billed to have 51 per cent of its equity owned by the Nigerian government and people, while foreign partners would have the remaining 49 per cent.

Also, the then Aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, who midwifed the project hinted that the Air Nigeria carrier would generate over 70, 000 jobs when it begins operation. It was based on some of these promises that many hoped for the materialisation of the Nigeria Air project. And the wait lingered for so long.

Nigeria Air was supposed to take off in December 2018 after its launch in July 2018 at the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom; however, that never happened. Sirika assured the Senate Committee on Aviation in October 2020, during the budget defence session, that the project’s plan would be completed in 2021, but that never came to be.

In addition, Sirika stated again on November 23, 2021, following the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, that the airline’s operations will begin in 2022. It never happened again. Sirika then declared in 2022 that the date had been moved to July, which never materialised.

The date was postponed again to December 2022 after the aviation minister disclosed that an agreement has been reached with Ethiopian Airlines among other investors. Hopes were dashed again as the December deadline was not realised and was again shifted to the first quarter of 2023, but by the end of March, the minister reassured that Nigeria Air will fly before their handover date, May 29th.

Finally, with only three days left in Buhari’s presidency, Minister Sirika and his team unveiled a Boeing 737 800 Max with ‘Nigeria Air’ inscribed on it, registration number ET -APL, Mode S Q4005C, and serial number 40965/4075 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, in a bid to launch the much-touted national carrier.

But the aircraft had barely taken flight when it was uncovered that the reported Nigeria Aircraft was a borrowed aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines (ET), repainted and rebranded in Nigerian colours.

It was also discovered that the unveiled national carrier airlines which reportedly gulped over N85 billion was yet to procure an Air Operating Certificate (AOC), which is a needed approval issued by Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to aircraft operators to allow it use aircraft for commercial flight operations; besides, the purported Nigeria Air has not secured a single aircraft for its operations.

According to findings, the former Minister of Aviation contacted Ethiopian Airlines a few days before the transfer to obtain an aircraft that would be presented to Nigerians as a Nigeria Air aircraft. Just two days after the aircraft was exhibited, a flying live tracker revealed that the Nigeria Air plane had returned to Ethiopia, where it had been brought in from.

The unfolding shenanigans raised fears that much-hyped Nigeria’s dreams for a domestic airline have crash-landed. David Hundeyin, a Nigerian investigative journalist, who was at the forefront of uncovering the alleged scam, described the current government’s silence as a testament that there won’t be any distinction between the Buhari administration and the Tinubu government.

However, even with the government’s silence, Nigerians’ outrage resonated loudly as the national carrier project was tagged a ‘con job’. The uproar triggered calls and pressure on the government, especially the EFCC to not only arrest and prosecute the former Aviation minister but to also conduct a forensic audit on the whole process of the Nigeria Air project. On social and terrestrial media, the anger of Nigerians has been wild