The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) spokesman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, has revealed that Nigeria Air has no single shareholder in its records at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The ongoing investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation has brought to the fore startling revelations about Nigeria Air.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and annual budgetary figures indicate that about N85 billion was committed to this project between 2016 and 2023 which has, however, turned out to be a huge scam.
This has led to criticism from different quarters and joining those to hit out at the people involved in the whole shady deal is AON spokesman, Okonkwo who spoke to Arise TV on Monday.
“They say that it is the edge shareholders organizing the rent but this is some kind of inconsistency because the same minister had said that they had not signed the shareholders’ agreement,” Okonkwo said.
“Nobody has invested one kobo into that, so if you don’t sign a share agreement that confirms you are really sure of ownership in the company, you have not invested money, then you can’t claim to be a shareholder, so it wouldn’t have been part of organising anything.
“Let’s get it clear here, we are aware of the roadmap for the aviation industry. We are aware of the Presidential Committee on setting up Nigeria Air.
“I have said here that where we withdrew the airline operators with a commendation of the Presidential Committee for Nigeria Air was overturned after the submission and then hijacked by the Ministry of Aviation.”
Okonkwo said that the original plan was that the investors could come together, sign the shareholders’ agreement and based on the ratio of their shareholders, they make their own investment and they will register Nigeria Air in CAC based on that but today, what we have at CAC, there is no single shareholder in the company.
Recall that last week, the interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Captain Dayo Olumide confessed that the recently unveiled national Airline was after all a chartered aircraft from Ethiopia.
Olumide made this confession on Tuesday when he was summoned by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on the aeroplane that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He informed the Committee that Nigeria Air launched by the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari was hired for five days to showcase the logo to Nigerians and their shareholders.
Olumide added that the Nigeria Air was actually launched in 2018 and his own responsibility was to secure an operating certificate for the airline.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation last Tuesday said that the launch of Nigeria Air by the Buhari administration was a fraud done in secrecy.
It specifically accused the outgone Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, of not carrying the National Assembly along in the whole process of establishing the national carrier.
