Executive Jets ‘Mistook’ Naira Marley For Minister Babatunde Fashola

The aviation company that flew Nigerian singer, Naira Marley, among others, for a concert in Abuja last week has claimed that it mistook the singer for the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

Naira Marley was said to have entered ‘Fashola Babatunde’ as his name instead of his real name ‘Azeez Fashola’ or stage name in the passenger manifest sent to Executive Jets’ chief executive officer, Sam Iwu, before the flight took off.

The flight had been scheduled to convey a Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Adefope Okoji, from Lagos to Abuja and back.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday announced the suspension of the aviation company, as well as sanctions for the pilots involved in flying the singer, for violating the federal government’s ban on interstate travel to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

But in a letter he wrote to Sirika, Iwu apologised to the federal government, saying he didn’t know that his aircraft was used to convey “a bunch of useless people”.

He said, “We hereby apologize for the above flight, with your permit ref: PMA/ATMD/0175/V/V/1268 dated 11th June, 2020,” the letter read.

“Please the flight was to carry a Judge to Abuja on Sunday 14th, 2020 as requested and permit was granted based on the application, but unfortunately when I called the Judge on Saturday morning to inform him that we have the permit, he then said that he has reached Abuja already with a different flight that someone gave him a lift to Abuja.

“So on Saturday morning 13th June, 2020 my staff called me that they have a charter flight to Abuja and that the passengers are already in the lounge as a rule passenger manifest is always sent to me before any departure, when I went through the manifest and I saw FASHOLA BABATUNDE I thought it was the Honorable Minister of Works going to Abuja with his men, so we decided to do the flight since (he) is a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I didn’t know that it was a bunch of useless people.

“We are very sorry for this mistake and we promise that this would not happen again.”