FG hints at new national carrier, may jettison Nigeria Air/ET pact

There are strong indications that the federal government will revive the bid for the establishment of a national carrier amidst the suspension of the Nigeria Air project. The newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, gave the hint yesterday while clarifying an earlier comment attributed to […]

There are strong indications that the federal government will revive the bid for the establishment of a national carrier amidst the suspension of the Nigeria Air project.

The newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, gave the hint yesterday while clarifying an earlier comment attributed to him that he had the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver a new national carrier.

His comment, which he debunked yesterday generated mixed feelings in the industry with stakeholders speculating a cold war in the ministry.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo had on assumption of office in 2023 suspended the project.

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He also stated that the Ethiopian Airline’s deal on Nigeria Air was a bad deal for Nigeria. But he never mentioned whether it would be reviewed or an entirely new deal would be struck for Nigeria.

Displaying the agreement with ET recently, Keyamo said, “This is the master agreement I have here. You’ll be shocked if you read that document.

“After some time, I’ll make it public. I’m not hiding from it. I don’t need a lawyer to read it for me. 33 years of active practice of law tells me what to say.

“This is the Ethiopian Air agreement here. And you’ll be shocked if you look at this. What it simply says is that a foreign government should come and take over our national carrier.

“That is the long and short of the story, because Ethiopian Air was a single major shareholder in that deal. Ethiopian Air is owned by another government in Africa. It’s the same thing they have done to Togo. Togo is a small country. They have done it with Asky owned by Ethiopian Air. We cannot be Togo. I apologise, whoever I’m talking to but we cannot be Togo.

“We are big, we are big, we are ambitious. We cannot give up our entire ecosystem to another entity. Because what would have happened in that case is that the Ethiopian government would now be a complete beneficiary of all our BASA (Bilateral Air Service Agreement) routes.”

Stakeholders, industry players and analysts have expressed concerns over the failure of all the attempts at bringing back the national carrier since the demise of Nigeria Airways in 2004 despite millions of dollars and billions of naira sunk into it.

Former Minister Hadi Sirika in response to a report that N85bn was expended on the Nigeria Air project stated that only N3bn was spent on the project.

The former minister said: “Between the years 2016-2023, all the money budgeted for Nigeria Air, was about N5 billion but not all of it was released. Perhaps about N3 billion was released.

“Part of the N3 billion has so far been spent on the acquisition of offices, payments of consultancy fees, workers’ salaries and processing of Air Operators ‘Certificate (AOC).”

From 2003 till date, virtually all the ministers of aviation that have served in the past made attempts to bring back the national carrier with billions of naira spent on the various projects without giving an account of the money.

Amidst the uncertainty over the Nigeria Air/ET deal, the newly appointed permanent secretary stirred an argument over an alleged mandate given to him by the president.

But he quickly recanted yesterday while further giving a hint that the project is still in the agenda of the Tinubu-led government.

In a statement yesterday, he confirmed that he had been inundated with inquiries about his reference to the revival of the National Carrier Project.

He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, I never said that there is a mandate to revive the botched Nigeria Air deal with Ethiopian airline. I received no such instruction. I was only referring to the general vision of the administration to still consider a National Carrier Project if it is favourable to the country and under the guidance and directives of Mr. President and the Honourable Minister of Aviation. I hope this clarifies all the ambiguities surrounding my earlier statement on this issue.”

He also pledged his “absolute loyalty” to Keyamo, and said he is committed to “Working closely with him to drive the ministry’s agenda forward. Together, we will ensure that the future of aviation in Nigeria is bright, innovative and reflective of the aspirations of our great nation.”

Speaking with our correspondent, an aviation analyst, Group Capt. John Ojikutu said instead of floating one national carrier, government should set up two flag carriers instead; one regional and continental and the other intercontinental.

“This is what our contemporaries in the early times were doing. I will recommend Arik-Aero for the Regional-Continental and Air Peace-Ibom for the Intercontinental. Both would need foreign technical partners and investors but not from any of our competitors on the BASA Routes.

“First is to assess the local and foreign debts and assets of the airlines to the foreign investors and the domestic investors.”

He stated that both foreign and local investors should not have more than 30 per cent making 30 per cent in total while FG and the states or the six geographical areas should have 12% and the public through the Nigerian Stock Market 28% and the 40% balance should be for the airlines.

“Anything different from that cannot work and may not last,” he added.