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The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has applauded the judiciary for upholding justice in the Nigeria Air matter.
According to AON, the judiciary stood for what is right in its delivery of judgment against the manner in which the Nigeria Air was set up as National Carrier but gave higher equity stake to Ethiopian Airlines.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPrime Business Africa reports that on 5th August 2024, Justice A. Alagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had declared in the judgment that the decisions made in the sale of the shares and operations of the so called Nigeria Air were in violation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, SEC Nigeria Consolidated Rules & Regulations 2013 (as amended in 2022), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Act, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Convention, and Civil Aviation Act.
The court also held that the action was in breach of the Public Procurement Act, Concession Regulatory Commission (Est.) Act, 2005, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, Procurement Processes for Public Private Partnership in the Federal Government under the National Policy on Public Private Partnership (N4P) and Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015 and other regulatory statutes on aviation, companies and investment laws in Nigeria.
AON in a statement signed by its President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, noted that the Court also “stood firm on the path of truth by declaring that the entire administrative actions and decisions in the sale of the shares of the so called Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines and its pseudo “consortium” is invalid, void and of no effect.”
It said the court also declared that the Ethiopian Airlines was incompetent to bid for shares in Nigeria Air and commence business accordingly.
“To this end, the court therefore gave an Order setting aside the entire bidding/selection process(es) for the ‘Nigeria Air’ project as well as the approval, grant or selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika in the process.”
Order given by the Court
The airline operator further stated that the court also gave an Order directing the immediate revocation and cancellation of the Air Transport License (ATL) issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to Nigeria Air Limited; “and issued a Perpetual Injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, officers, privies, and principals from perfecting, continuing and transferring the operations of Nigeria Air by the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and to Ethiopian Airlines.”
Speaking on the court judgment, the AON President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, said the ruling shows that entire bidding processes, approval and unveiling of the purported national carrier was clearly a hoax, adding that it was a ploy to kill Nigerian indigenous airlines.
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“It was also a surreptitious plan to kill Nigerian indigenous airlines and handover the commonwealth of Nigeria’s huge aviation market with over 85 Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) around the world to Ethiopian Airlines through the back door without investing a penny into the Nigerian economy and in an attempt to satisfy the whims and caprices of some selfish and unpatriotic individuals,” Sarina stated.
“We therefore thank the court for standing tall in the face of untold pressure from very high quarters and for exonerating AON and other well meaning Nigerian indigenous Airlines for going to court to protect the interest of Nigeria as well as proving truly to be the only hope of the common man.”
He also expressed appreciation to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, for standing by the truth and in the interest of the country, suspended the Nigeria Air process as planned by his predecessor, Hadi Sirika
