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Nigeria Air MD Breaks Silence On Controversial Aircraft
The jet that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on May 26, 2023 was a chartered one from Ethiopia, according to Nigeria Air’s managing director Dayo Olumide.
On Monday, Olumide revealed this in response to inquiries from senators, noting that the airline had just been created and that obtaining an operating license for it was his personal responsibility.
Olumide said, “It is a pleasure to be here and to finally make our position known where I can clarify all the misconceptions regarding Nigeria Air as it pertains to the technical aspects of it.
“As you know this airline was launched with the logo in 2018. Several things have transpired since then that have nothing to do with me.
“I was invited last February, my mandate is to secure an air operating certificate for the airline not necessarily to operate the airline but to secure a licence to fly. And that is entirely my responsibility.”
The Chairman of the Committee on Aviation, Senator Olujimi expressed displeasure of the committee when she said that the entire arrangement of the Nigeria Air was shrouded in suspicion.
In responding to Olujimi’s question, Olumide said the aircraft that flew into the country that day did not need a licence, so it was hired.
He said, “I will like to address your question first before I go on. The aircraft that came in and left was a legitimate charter flight. Anyone of us here if we have a destination wedding in Senegal, we can charter an aircraft.
“You don’t need to have a licence to do that, you just charter an aircraft, an aircraft you paid for it, it will be brought here, take your passengers and off you go.
“And that is what we did. But in this case, it was to unveil. Ever since 2018, all you have ever seen about Nigeria Aircraft were pictures, and drawings, not the real aircraft, and we thought it was time to show what the real aircraft will look like and also to let shareholders know.
“You see we have institutional investors, they are not in aviation, but they are putting their money for 10 or 15 years and to exit may be at the premium. So they need to see what the actual aircraft will look like.
“So we brought it in here to show them what the aircraft will look like. Then the social media dimension came into it.
“It is an Ethiopian-registered one. Why is it Ethiopian-registered? To operate aircraft in Nigeria, they must be Nigerian registered; on 5th November. That aircraft was not on 5th November registered because it was a chartered flight and it came in with just a few day’s clearance and off it went.
“For us to get that licence which is my mandate, we must among other things have three aircraft before the NCAA will give us a licence and those three aircraft must be Nigerian-registered aircraft.”
“For us to get that licence which is my mandate, we must among other things have three aircraft before the NCAA will give us a licence and those three aircraft must be Nigerian-registered aircraft.”
“There are five steps that one goes through to have a licence. We have gone from the first one to the second one but the problem is that when you change what we call post holders.
“Post holder is a technical term for director of maintenance, chief pilot, when you change them and replace them completely, you have to go back to phase one to interview them to be compliant to the authority, to the civil authority. But haven gone back to phase one doesn’t mean you have done anything thing wrong. That is a correct and normal process.
“So when this aircraft came on a chartered flight, everybody said we have launched Nigeria Air.
“There are learned people in the aviation industry who could have countered that when social media came out, they chose not to.”
With the commencement of the rainy season, the Osun State Government has issued modalities for the operations of tractors across farmlands in Osun State.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Tola Faseru, according to a government house statement on Monday in Osogbo, confirmed the development.
Faseru said interested farmers should reach out to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry or the General Manager of Osun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OSSADEC) through virtual or physical applications.
He noted that the government was subsidizing the operational rate per acre to lower the cost of farm operations, explaining further that the tractors will be domiciled at the OSSADEC farm centre located across the state.
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Faseru pointed out that some of the tractors were already in operation in some farmlands, and noted that the ministry was working to set up technical centres at designated locations for maintenance of the tractors.
He narrated further that tractor drivers are being assembled, trained and retrained for seamless operation even as he explained that the administration adopted a public private partnership approach for the management of the tractors.
“We are happy to inform the public that the tractors are out for the rainy season. We are conscious of the question of sustainability, hence the careful approach to inject private sector practices.
“In 14 or so years, this is the first time Osun is having new fleet of tractors. We have learnt from what caused the failure of the past efforts. We won’t repeat the same mistakes.
“We know we are not there yet. But Governor Adeleke has blazed the trail by procuring the first set of tractors. We innovated also because of ongoing issues at the local government level.
“We don’t want it to be managed in unsustainable manner. Hence, Mr Governor insisted the tractors be managed like a business although with public subsidy”, the Commissioner posited.
He stated that the ministry is reaching out to stakeholders among the farming community to ensure accelerated access for users within the state.
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from selling off properties confiscated from her.
Alison-Madueke, through her legal team led by Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), also requested the court to compel the EFCC to recover any assets already auctioned.
She accused the anti-graft agency of violating her fundamental right to a fair hearing, arguing that the sales were conducted without due legal process.
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She claimed the EFCC relied on final forfeiture orders obtained from various courts but failed to serve her with any charges, proof of evidence, or court summons regarding the seized properties.
According to her, the forfeiture orders were secured through “misstatements, misrepresentations, non-disclosure, concealment, and suppression of material facts.”
“In many cases, the final forfeiture orders were made against properties which affected the Applicant’s interest, the courts were misled into making the final order of forfeiture against the Applicant, based on suppression or non-disclosure of material facts,” she stated.
The former minister further argued that the courts which issued the forfeiture orders lacked jurisdiction and failed to respect her constitutional right to a fair hearing.
She insisted that she was outside Nigeria for medical treatment since 2015 and had no access to Nigerian newspapers where the forfeiture notices were reportedly published.
Alison-Madueke also maintained that she had not been convicted of any crime, making the forfeiture and subsequent sale of her properties unjustifiable.
“Only a court of law can declare an act as constituting unlawful activities and there was no such order that had declared the alleged conduct of the Applicant to be unlawful,” she argued.
In a counter-affidavit, the EFCC insisted that the properties were lawfully forfeited following extensive investigations into Alison-Madueke’s tenure as a public official.
The agency cited two criminal cases against her, including suit FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 filed in November 2018 and HC/ADYL/56c/2017 filed in July 2017.
The EFCC stated that the asset sales were conducted based on final forfeiture orders issued by Justices C.A. Obiozor and I.N. Oweibo in 2019.
It maintained that all necessary legal procedures were followed, including public notices in newspapers inviting interested parties to contest the forfeitures.
“The final forfeiture orders pursuant to which the sale of the properties was conducted are still in force and have not been set aside. The forfeited properties were disposed of in accordance with the due process of law,” the agency stated.
During Monday’s proceedings, Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Godwin Iyibor, requested additional time to respond to the EFCC’s counter-affidavit, which was served on March 14. EFCC’s counsel, Divine Okoro, acknowledged delays in filing but assured the court of the agency’s commitment to the case.
Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the matter to March 27 for a definite hearing, warning that no further delays would be entertained. “The case has been pending since 2023,” the judge noted.
Alison-Madueke’s legal battle with the EFCC also includes a separate ₦100 billion defamation lawsuit against the agency.
In that suit, she alleged that the EFCC had authored and sponsored publications portraying her as a treasury looter, which she claimed subjected her to “public ridicule, odium, contempt, derision, and obloquy.”
Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has issued a three-month ultimatum to individuals who purchased houses in Kwankwasiyya, Amana, and Bandirawo cities, warning that failure to either occupy or rent them out will lead to revocation and reallocation.
The directive was announced on Monday during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Commissioner for Housing Development, Ibrahim Adamu, a former Managing Director of the Kano Urban Property Development Authority.
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Governor Yusuf expressed concern over the large number of vacant houses in these estates, which were developed during the administration of former Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso and later sold to private buyers.
Many of the homes, however, remain unoccupied, raising fears of deterioration and potential security threats.
“We are giving all those who purchased houses in these cities, especially Kwankwasiyya and Amana, an ultimatum—either occupy them or rent them out. If not, the government will revoke the allocation and sell them to those willing to live in them,” the governor declared.
He emphasized that his administration would not allow these estates to become hideouts for criminals, stressing the need to maximize available housing to address the state’s accommodation challenges.
Governor Yusuf also tasked the new Commissioner for Housing Development with tackling Kano’s housing deficit, reaffirming that the ministry was created to address both urban and rural housing needs.
Additionally, he commended the Kano State House of Assembly for their support and cooperation in governance.
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