Sirika says court action from local carriers stalled national airline project
Former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Hadi Sirika, says Nigeria’s national carrier project—Nigeria Air—was derailed by local airline operators who took the federal government to court.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Morning Brief, Sirika pointed fingers at Air Peace, Azman Air, and United Nigeria Airlines, saying their legal pushback stopped what he described as a transparent and legitimate public-private partnership with Ethiopian Airlines.
“We had an airline ready to launch. What stopped it was the court case,” Sirika said. “If the new government had continued the process, Nigeria Air would be flying today.”
Why Ethiopian Airlines?
Sirika defended the choice of Ethiopian Airlines as a partner, saying no Nigerian carrier has the scale or capacity to compete with global players like British Airways or Qatar Airways.
“Ethiopian Airlines has run successfully for nearly 80 years. They have over 250 planes. None of our local airlines come close,” he argued.
He noted that ticket prices remain higher in Nigeria compared to neighboring countries because of the lack of a strong national airline that can influence the market.
“No fraud involved,” Sirika insists
Responding to allegations of corruption or mismanagement, the former minister broke down the numbers:
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₦5 billion was budgeted between 2015 and 2023 for the Nigeria Air project
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₦3 billion was released
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Around ₦1 billion remained unspent when he left office
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A third of the funds went to consultancy; the rest covered staffing and setup
“Claims that ₦100 billion was spent are completely false,” he said. “The process was vetted by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), and we followed every legal and regulatory step.”
He encouraged Nigerians to invoke the Freedom of Information Act to access all documents and confirm there was no fraud.
Can local airlines compete?
Sirika also questioned the sustainability of domestic airlines, many of which, he said, come and go without building long-term capacity.
“We’ve seen Kabo, Okada, Arik—they all came and disappeared. You can’t compete globally with just five planes,” he said.
Final word: Nigeria Air will happen—eventually
Despite the legal and political setbacks, Sirika remains confident that Nigeria Air will eventually take off.
“Whether now or later, Nigeria Air will happen. The bidding process was fair, and Ethiopian Airlines won it transparently,” he concluded.
