Investigative journalist and founder of West Africa Week, David Hundeyin, has taken to Twitter to expose what he claims is a case of blatant fraud committed by Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika.

In his tweet on Friday, Hundeyin alleges that the minister displayed a rented and hastily repainted Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines as part of the phantom national carrier, “Nigeria Air.”

He further expressed concerns about the minister’s actions while acknowledging that the incident might not be the most crucial news item of the day, he felt it was necessary to shed light on the alleged fraud.

The tweet reads “In context, this is not today’s important story, but I thought to flag it up too. Aviation minister @hadisirika is committing broad daylight fraud by displaying this rented and hurriedly repainted @flyethiopian Boeing 737-800 as an aircraft belonging to a phantom “Nigeria Air”.

Hundeyin further  shared a video obtained from a source at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, clearly showing the aircraft with the registration number ET-APL, indicating it is owned by Ethiopian Airlines.

He further pointed out that the same plane had briefly appeared in the colors of Malawian Airlines, of which Ethiopian Airlines owns a 49% stake.

He went on to accuse Sirika of intentionally not displaying the registration number of the aircraft when it landed in Abuja.

He said “The plane has landed in Abuja and @hadisirika the fraduster made sure the video he tweeted didn’t show its registration number. He actually moved the camera away when it was about to come into shot.”

Upon the alleged arrival of the aircraft in Abuja, Sirika in his tweet expressed gratitude to Almighty God for the successful completion of a long, tedious, and challenging journey.

He also mentioned the significance of the aircraft for future generations and prayed for its beneficial impact on Nigeria and humanity.

It reads “We are here. To Almighty God be all the glory. It has been a very long, tedious, daunting and difficult path. We thank everyone for the support. This, by the will of God, will be for us and generations to come. Ya Allah make it beneficial for our country and humanity.”

Below are evidence presented by David Hundeyin to back up his claim:

It is worth noting that Airline operators in Nigeria had expressed their opposition to the plans of outgoing Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, to initiate the operations of Nigeria Air on Friday (today), despite an existing court order that restrains the implementation of the contentious project.

Consequently, the legal representatives of the Airline Operators of Nigeria wrote a letter to President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), urging him to intervene and prevent the minister from attempting to “bypass the court orders on the last working day of this administration, potentially in an effort to conceal various violations of Nigerian laws, among other concerns.”

In the letter titled “Nigeria Air Project: Last Minute Planned Disobedience to Court Order And Deliberate Plan to Rubbish the Achievement of this Administration,” signed by AON lawyers, with Abubakar Nuhu Ahmad of Nureini Jimoh Chambers as the lead signatory, the local airlines have accused Minister Sirika of deliberately choosing the final working day of the administration to introduce two aircraft, thereby violating the court order pertaining to the project.

It partly reads, “We are solicitors to Airline Operators of Nigeria (“Our Client”). Our client filed the above suit to question the shady deal, deliberate infraction of the Nigerian laws and self-enrichment, mainly against the Federal Ministry of Aviation over the Nigerian Air Project.

 “In the suit, the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos presided by Hon. Justice A.L Allagoa, in the above suit, granted Orders of interim and interlocutory injunctions, in the terms contained in the Order, restraining taking of any step in relation to the Nigeria Air project. Copy each of the Orders are enclosed as Annexures 1, 2 & 3.

“As your Excellency is well aware, the administration will hand over on Monday May 29, 2023 but the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, is planning to circumvent the Court Orders on Friday 26th May, 2023 being the last working day of this administration and possibly to cover up the various infractions of Nigerian laws, amongst others.

” This was disclosed in the interview granted yesterday by the Hon. Minister to Channels Television and same has gone viral on social media. The Minister is planning to hurriedly bring in two (2) aircrafts and pretend that NigeriaAir has commenced operation.

“Aside moral justification for commercial operation after the Minister’s last day in office, it is a clever way to violate the court orders. This action has no regard to whether or not it will stain the record of this administration, whether or not it will cover for corrupt actions raised in the suit and deliberately meant to violate Court Orders for self-serving purposes.

“We therefore employ your Excellency to stop this action of the Minister of Aviation, ensure compliance with the terms of the order and avoid needless controversies on the action after your Excellency’s administration would have expired.

“Notwithstanding, our client will still pursue contempt action against the Minister personally whether or not he left office, for the promotion of the rule of law, protection of integrity of the court and in line with international best practices.”