N85bn Nigeria Air: Rights Group Calls For Sirika’s Arrest

Hadi Sirika, the immediate past Minister of Aviation should be arrested for alleged fraudulent practices regarding the Nigeria Air, a human rights body, has said.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, described the handling of the Nigeria Air as a total fraud by the former minister.

HURIWA’s position comes after the House of Representatives and the Senate said the manner the former minister handled the deal amounted to a fraud.

The National Assembly took the position after the Managing Director of the airline told lawmakers earlier this week that due process was not followed with the establishment of the airline.

Reacting to the controversy, HURIWA the manner the Ministry hurriedly unveiled the airline few days to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was very suspicious.

According to the group, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in Owerri yesterday and made available to journalists, the former minister should be investigated and arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

HURIWA said the revelation by Capt. Dapo Oluimde, the Managing Director of Nigerian Air, that the deal between Ethiopian Airline and the former Minister was handled in an untransparent manner is enough for the anti-graft agency to swing to action, describing the Airline as “the fraud of the highest order”.

The statement: “The Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Capt. Dapo Olumide, told legislators on Tuesday that the aircraft paraded as Nigeria Air plane belonged to Ethiopian Airlines and not Nigeria whereas Sirika paraded the aircraft as being owned by Nigeria.

“This is fraud of the highest order and the lawmakers have labelled it so, including the suspension of all activities regarding the sham called national carrier.

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must swing into action now that both the upper and lower chambers have declared the project as a fraud. The anti-graft agency must swiftly arrest, investigate and prosecute the ex-minister if found culpable.

“There are a lot of questions that Sirika must be made to answer, including the whereabouts of the N85 billion splurged on the project.

“In fact, aside from that the so-called national carrier has not secured a single aircraft for its operations, it has also failed to secure Air Operating Certificate (AOC) from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) “, he said.

The Federal Government had in July 2018 unveiled the national carrier during the Farnborough Air Show in London.

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Over N85 billion has been allocated for its take off between 2016 and 2018.