Nigeria Aviation Projects: Arrest, prosecute Hadi Sirika - Group

Nigeria Aviation Projects: Arrest, prosecute Hadi Sirika - Group

A civil society organizations, Africa-Today Transparency and Advocacy Group has called for the Anti-graft agency to Immediately arrest and prosecute the former nigeria aviation minister Senator Hadi Sirika,.whose name has been trending on media for the naked impunity of an alleged swindle over the Nigeria Aviation projects.

The group in a Press Statement signed by the President Comrade Olabisi Kayode, and issued to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

The  statement said, the Nigeria Air scam was only one of the major scandals associated with Sirika’s name. 

"Recall, in 2017 the Minister spent $600,000 on logo design contracted to a Bahraini company before the project, then known as Air Nigeria, was suspended. But Hadi Sirika denied the amount but failed to say how much was spent. Later the Federal Government budgeted up to N800 million between 2017 and 2018 when the blind pursuit of the project was resumed".

"Sirika  was also under fire for spending N12 billion to purchase 10 fire trucks, meaning that each truck cost N1.2 billion! Hadi 

"The former Minister obviously has questions to answer, because he perpetrate fraud and commit economic sabotage".

"The anti-graft agency should investigate the former minister for undertaking ventures designed to benefit a few individuals and lead to the eventual collapse of aviation, a critical sector of the Nigerian economy".

"Recall, in May 26, 2023 the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos headed by Justice A.L Allagoa, in a suit filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria, had granted three separate orders of injunctions, restraining the Federal Government from taking any step about the Nigeria Air project ‘but the minister in a desperate bid to cover up the monumental fraud in the deal elected to flagrantly disobeyed an order of a court of competent jurisdiction and produced a sham called unveiling of Nigeria Air flight".

The group urged the anti-graft agency to make Sirika account for a whopping over N15billion that has been committed so far to the aviation project by the federal government, alleging that the desperation by the former minister is geared towards covering up the misappropriation of funds and monumental fraud.

“The unveiling was a desperate attempt to justify the over N15 billion appropriated by the federal government to Nigeria Air since 2016. The phantom project has continued to lick up budgetary provisions; N1.3 billion was allotted to it in the 2023 budget with an additional N700 million as ‘working capital’ and N200 million as consultancy fee; 

"The former  minister must not be allowed to go free, this act of fraud and economic terrorism must not be allowed to go unpunished".

The group said Sirika must be compelled to explain during his time as the aviation minister, why in the proposed Shareholder Agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will also collect millions of dollars yearly as management fees despite having 49% shares and why the East African company will attract such grace by using just their own planes as contributions to the project?

The group also charged the Anti-graft agency to probe the 3% of the total shares allocated to Fairfax Ltd which was appointed as the Transaction Adviser to the project.

"Now every  well-meaning voice in Nigeria is yelling for Hadi Sirika’s arrest and questioning over the Nigeria Aviation affair which he single-handedly perpetrated in cahoots with Ethiopian Airline officials and other actors. Sirika purported to have floated the airline as a “national carrier” when, in truth, the single aircraft that was “unveiled” on May 26, 2023 was a hurriedly repainted, chartered aircraft still carrying Ethiopian registration marks.

"The anti-graft agency should probe the deal that granted Fairfax Nigeria Limited the shares without paying a dime", the statement added.