The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government on Monday announced the suspension of the “Air Nigeria” project indefinitely.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo made this at the ministerial briefing to mark the first year of the Tinubu administration.
He explained that the airline was never a Nigerian airline but instead, an attempt to impersonate a foreign airline operating in Nigeria.
SaharaReporters in May 2023 reported that the plane unveiled by then-President Muhammadu Buhari a few days before he left office was over 10 years old and belonged to Ethiopian Airlines.
Plane Spotters, a platform which takes an inventory of aircraft, revealed its Mode was S Q4005C and its Serial Number was 40965/4075.
The Concerned Northern Forum had also called the “Nigeria Air” launch a half-baked project and claimed that it was driven by lies, deception and corruption amounting to billions of naira.
In January, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had revealed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was investigating the controversial Nigeria Air deal sealed by Sirika.
Sirika, who was the aviation minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari and his brother were slammed with eight-count charges.
SaharaReporters had also reported that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted Sirika, his daughter, and two others N100 million bail each over the alleged N2.7billion fraud.
Sirika was arraigned alongside his daughter, Fatima; his son-in-law, Jalal Hamma and Al-Duraq Investment Limited before Justice Sylvanus of the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
The court had also ordered that the defendants should be remanded in prison custody should they fail to fulfill their bail conditions.
Justice Oriji had also ordered that the defendants must not travel abroad without the court’s permission.
The anti-graft agency is charging the suspects for alleged N2.7billion contract fraud uncovered in the aviation ministry under Sirika and during the former President Buhari’s administration.
