Sirika: Air Peace, Others Stalled Nigeria Air Project
Former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Hadi Sirika, has blamed some Nigerian airlines for the failure of the Nigeria Air project. Speaking on Channels TV’s Morning Brief programme, Sirika said Air Peace, Azman Air, and United Nigeria Airlines, under the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), disrupted the partnership between the federal government and Ethiopian Airlines. According to him, the project was designed as a public-private partnership regulated by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Sirika denied reports that over N100 billion was spent on the project. He explained that between 2015 and 2023, a total of N5 billion was budgeted, while only N3 billion was released. Out of that, about one-third went to consultancy services, while the rest covered staffing costs. He argued that Ethiopian Airlines was chosen because no Nigerian […]
