The Federal Government has announced the indefinite suspension of the Air Nigeria Airline project. Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, confirmed the suspension during a ministerial press briefing in Abuja, which marked President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office.
The Nigeria Air project was initially unveiled in 2023 by the Ministry of Aviation under then-minister Hadi Sirika, just three days before the end of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. The development stirred concerns among stakeholders nationwide due to the ownership arrangement, which allocated a 49 per cent equity stake to Ethiopian Airlines, 5 per cent to the Federal Government, and 46 per cent to a consortium of three Nigerian investors.
In June 2023, the House of Representatives described the Nigeria Air deal as a fraud and urged the Federal Government to suspend its operations. Subsequently, in August 2023, Minister Keyamo announced that the national carrier project would be suspended until further notice.
Keyamo said, “It remains suspended. It was never Air Nigeria. It was not Air Nigeria. That’s the truth. It was only painted Nigeria Air. It was Ethiopian Airlines trying to flag our flag.
“If it is so, why not allow our local plane to fly our flag? So nobody should dispute that it was Nigeria Air.
“Air Nigeria must be indigenous, must be wholly Nigerian, and must be for the full benefits of Nigeria, not that 50 per cent of the profit is for another country.”
Keyamo reiterated that the ownership structure of the suspended airline is not beneficial to the country.
“Nigeria Air must be indigenous, it must be only Nigeria or it must be for the full benefit of Nigeria.
“Not that 60 per cent of the profit is for another country. How does that benefit us? So It remains suspended,” he said.
