The Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Dayo Olumide has disclosed that the aeroplane that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on 26th May 2023, was a chartered one from Ethiopia.
Olumide disclosed this while answering questions from the senators on Monday, adding that it was launched in 2018 and his own responsibility was to secure an operating certificate for the airline.
Olumide said, “It is a pleasure to be here and to finally make our position known where I can clarify all the misconceptions regarding Nigeria Air as it pertains to the technical aspects of it.
“As you know this airline was launched with the logo in 2018. Several things have transpired since then that have nothing to do with me.
“I was invited last February, my mandate is to secure an air operating certificate for the airline not necessarily to operate the airline but to secure a licence to fly. And that is entirely my responsibility.”
The Chairman of the Committee on Aviation, Senator Olujimi expressed displeasure of the committee when she said that the entire arrangement of the Nigeria Air was shrouded in suspicion.
In responding to Olujimi’s question, Olumide said the aircraft that flew into the country that day did not need a licence, so it was hired.
He said, “I will like to address your question first before I go on. The aircraft that came in and left was a legitimate charter flight. Anyone of us here if we have a destination wedding in Senegal, we can charter an aircraft.
“You don’t need to have a licence to do that, you just charter an aircraft, an aircraft you paid for it, it will be brought here, take your passengers and off you go.
“And that is what we did. But in this case, it was to unveil. Ever since 2018, all you have ever seen about Nigeria Aircraft were pictures, and drawings, not the real aircraft, and we thought it was time to show what the real aircraft will look like and also to let shareholders know.
“You see we have institutional investors, they are not in aviation, but they are putting their money for 10 or 15 years and to exit may be at the premium. So they need to see what the actual aircraft will look like.
“So we brought it in here to show them what the aircraft will look like. Then the social media dimension came into it.
“It is an Ethiopian-registered one. Why is it Ethiopian-registered? To operate aircraft in Nigeria, they must be Nigerian registered; on 5th November. That aircraft was not on 5th November registered because it was a chartered flight and it came in with just a few day’s clearance and off it went.
“For us to get that licence which is my mandate, we must among other things have three aircraft before the NCAA will give us a licence and those three aircraft must be Nigerian-registered aircraft.”
“For us to get that licence which is my mandate, we must among other things have three aircraft before the NCAA will give us a licence and those three aircraft must be Nigerian-registered aircraft.”
“There are five steps that one goes through to have a licence. We have gone from the first one to the second one but the problem is that when you change what we call post holders.
“Post holder is a technical term for director of maintenance, chief pilot, when you change them and replace them completely, you have to go back to phase one to interview them to be compliant to the authority, to the civil authority. But haven gone back to phase one doesn’t mean you have done anything thing wrong. That is a correct and normal process.
“So when this aircraft came on a chartered flight, everybody said we have launched Nigeria Air.
“There are learned people in the aviation industry who could have countered that when social media came out, they chose not to.”
However, the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, declared the purported launching of Nigerian carrier, Air Nigeria, at the twilight of the administration of Muhammadu Buhari a fraud. The parliament asked President Bola Tinubu to suspend the process and probe those involved with the aim of prosecuting them.
The declaration followed the denials by the relevant agencies of the Federal Government and regulators in the aviation sector as well as private partners of being involved in the exercise.
At an investigative hearing organised by the House Committee on Aviation in Abuja, authorities such as Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission as well as an investor, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc, distanced themselves from the launching.
Chairman of the committee, Nnolim Nnaji, consequently declared the flag-off a fraud.
Nnaji said, “The committee, after careful evaluation of the issues on deliberation, is totally dissatisfied with the actions of the former Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirka, in going ahead to flag off the operations of Nigeria Air despite a standing court/injunction against such, and without any provision for sustaining the operations of the airline.
“We are equally irked by the role played by Ethiopian Airlines in this whole process. It does not speak well of the excellent brotherly relationship existing between our two nations.
“A careful review of the process indicates the exercise to be highly opaque, shrouded in secrecy, shoddy and capable of ridiculing and tarnishing the image of Nigeria before the international community. We want to put on record that the committee, and indeed the National Assembly, had no role in the purported launch of Nigeria Air or anything related thereof.”
The chairman added, “While the committee, and indeed the parliament, is not opposed to Nigeria having a national carrier, as a matter of fact having a national carrier is highly desirable to us as a people and Nigeria as a nation, however, such a process should be transparent and all embracing. We as a committee would not accept any attempt by any individual or group of individuals or organisation to hide under the project and siphon our commonwealths.”
Consequently, the committee resolved to “direct the Federal Ministry of Aviation and its partners in the Nigeria Air project to immediately suspend flights operations and every other action with respect to Nigeria Air.”
The committee also urged President Bola Tinubu to “as a matter of urgency constitute a high level presidential committee to undertake a holistic review of the processes of the whole Nigeria Air project, and advise the government on the way forward.”
The lawmakers also urged Tinubu to “ensure that all individuals, or groups, or organisations involved in the controversial shenanigan named ‘Nigeria Air Take-Off’ are brought to book, prosecuted and sanctioned.”