Hadi Sirika accuses House Committee Chairman of demanding 5% stake in Nigeria Air

• Former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, accused Hon. Nnolim Nnaji of soliciting 5% shares in the Nigeria Air project.
• Sirika claimed that Nnaji’s failure to secure the shares may be the reason for his persistent criticism of the airline.
• The minister made these allegations during an interview with Arise TV.

The immediate past Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has accused the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji of soliciting 5% shares in the controversial Nigeria Air project.

Sirika alleged that Nnaji begged Sirika for the 5% shares for “himself and his people,’ but was directed to the shareholders of the company.

Speaking to Arise TV on Sunday during an interview monitored by Nairametrics, Sirika claimed that the failure of Nnaji to secure the 5%  shares from the Nigeria Air project may have been responsible for his persistent criticism of the airline and described the entire exercise as a fraud.

Sirika on the the Chairman’s 5% demand

Nnaji had called the entire project a fraud and charged the security agencies to carry out an investigation into the failed airline, which carried out the static display on May 26, 2023, at the Abuja Airport.

• He said: “You know I record all my things anyway and I have it very clear. What I said to him in private I will say it now just to give him some comfort. He asked me to please give him 5% shares of Nigeria Air to carry him along with his people and I told him in private that 5% belongs to the owners and II believe they will be willing to offer him if he has the money.
• “So, it is not me giving it, I didn’t get involved, it was a bidding process. I am very sure they would have reserved 5%  shares for him and his people. So he should approach them and gets the 5%  shares that he needed. 
• “I want to assure you that at some point even the 5% shares owned by the Federal Government will go to the market. So, he should get his money ready and buy for him and his people.”

On whether Nnaji and the Committee members were asked to be bribed, Sirika exonerated other members of the committee at the Chairman’s request.

• “Let’s be fair, he did not say other members. He said he wants, him and his people. His people could be his family, members; it could be leadership, but I did not know what he meant, but he and his people was what he said.”

Nnaji Nnolim’s response to the former minister’s accusations

Meanwhile, Nnaji Nnolim has strongly denied allegations that he requested a 5% equity stake in Nigeria Air. In response to the claim made by the former minister, Nnolim stated that the accusation was baseless and likely a result of his unwavering insistence on following due process.

Nnolim further revealed that his committee had been conducting an investigation into the actions of the former minister and his team since the previous year. He emphasized that he felt compelled to set the record straight to fulfill his duty to his constituents and the Nigerian public.

Part of a statement he issued on Sunday night (June 11, 2023) said:

• “Ordinarily, l would not have bothered to reply to his allegations of my demand for five percent equity in Nigeria Air as he claimed during his interview on Arise Television but l believe l owe my constituents and indeed Nigerians, a duty to put the records straight,” he said.
• “It is on record that last year when the minister announced Ethiopian Airlines as the core investor in Nigeria Air, my committee which was also inundated with petitions from various stakeholders regarding that announcement invited the minister and his team to furnish the committee with the details of the project.
• “The committee requested the evidence of the bid process that gave Ethiopian Airlines the award and the full business case as prepared by the Nigerian Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) which was supposed to spell out the details of all the investors and their equity contributions.
• “Sirika at that meeting said the full business case was still being worked out by the ICRC and promised to make it available to the committee as soon it was ready which he failed to do before Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) took the ministry to court and got injunction restraining it from going ahead with the project.”