Air Peace Boss Asks Tinubu To Reverse Sirika’s Nigeria Air Deal With Ethiopia Airlines

.. Says Nigeria Air Will Crash With Current Arrangement

The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to dissolve the controversial Nigeria Air project sponsored by the embattled ex-Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.

Onyema said on Wednesday that the arrangement with Ethiopian Airlines was shrouded in secrecy and skewed to favour Ethiopian Airlines who have the majority share of 49 per cent.

The airline’s boss revealed during a right of reply to the former Aviation Minister on Arise TV that Ethiopian Air will not make any cash contribution to the project but would rather pay itself rentals for using its facilities.

On Sunday, Sirika claimed Air Peace, Nigeria’s biggest domestic carrier, suspended its Dubai flights due to lack of capacity, adding that the airline had lost $19m after leasing two Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000.

Sirika claimed that the two aircraft were leased before Air Peace was ready to fly.

According to the former minister, he spent close to N3bn on the Nigeria Air project.

Although Air Peace had reacted in a statement, Onyema said he has no personal battle with the former aviation boss but there are

“It is very shameful for an ex-minister of government, somebody who like he said 20 years ago has been at the Representatives a Senator and in the last eight years has been a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria being paid from my tax to supervise the ministry, you expect him to be my chief marketer so to say, but that hasn’t happened in the last eight years. I’m not going to sit down here to expose a lot of things for the sake of the love of the nation.

“For an ex-minister to come out to say directly or indirectly that his airline is incompetent… and peddling falsehood barefaced and never brink speaking as a matter of fact. Imagine the damage this minister has done to the image and reputation of Air Peace,” he said.

Onyema who claimed that Nigeria Air would crash if the current arrangement stands noted that national carriers are out of form.

He lamented, “When you look at the Nigerian Air thing, look at the shareholdings agreement I have it here, without SAHCO, Nigeria would have been in trouble. The leadership of the entire management, the CFO, the CEO, all the management heads, the headship are Ethiopians, and the deputies are Nigerians.

“Then look at the shareholding Ethiopia 49 per cent There is a company called Fairfax, who is this Fairfax? It is owned by Ethiopian, they are transaction advisers, they are going to get 3 per cent, and they are going to get 1.45 per cent of the shareholding capital which is put at $250m. Ethiopia will bring $150m but not as cash.

“What Ethiopia is bringing is rentals. It is only the Nigerian companies that are going to bring money. SAHCO and MRS. I have it here; the document is with me here. Ethiopia is not bringing a penny to Nigeria. They will bring rentals for their own planes for five years. So even if they pay the $122,000 Air Peace alone is worth over $2bn.

” As I speak to you, Boeing is in my office now for the delivery of our 737 Max which is costing over $1bn. The E2s from Embraer that we have started receiving is costing about $1bn- five of them have entered Nigeria.

‘Ethiopia is bringing nothing and they are going to earn 49 per cent of your country’s wealth. I call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately reverse this sham called Nigeria Air and start his own thing.”