The bid to revive Nigeria Air and sell it to Ethiopian Airlines has come to the end of the runway.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa recently declared that the sale to Ethiopian was invalid and legally ineffective, blocking the Federal Government's plan to establish Nigeria Air as the national carrier.
Last September, when the project was grounded and the sale to Ethiopian was planned as a recovery attempt, many airlines opposed the move, citing their exclusion from the project and the flawed bidding process.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit – the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, along with Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, and Topbrass Aviation Limited – lodged a claim for NGN2 billion (R22 million) in damages, reports nairametrics.com, but this was denied by the court.
The defendants include Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, the Federal Ministry of Aviation, and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Sirika was arrested earlier this year for conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, contract inflation, criminal breaches of trust, and money laundering. The former Minister underwent questioning regarding his connection to the controversial airline and its rushed unveiling on the last day of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The court's decision has put the Nigeria Air project under further judicial review and it may change the execution of the project.
