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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives, yesterday, mandated its Committee on Aviation to undertake a forensic audit of the processes involved in the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air.
The committee, which is expected to report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action, was also mandated to invite the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo and his predecessor, Hadi Sirika, to brief lawmakers on the status of the project. The Committee was also mandated to invite the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to brief it on the national carrier project and its certifications as it applies to the proposed Nigeria Air. Also to be invited are the eight local airlines in the country and their association, the Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON).
The House also directed the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Ministries of Budget, National Planning and Finance to furnish it “with data and financial resources on the national carrier project.”
This followed the adoption of a motion by Tarkighir Dickson on “need to investigate the national air carrier project.’ Dickson, in his motion, told the House that Sirika, as Minister, in 2016, proposed an aviation roadmap with a national carrier as the signature project, which will be delivered to the country, at the end of the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
According to him, “the former Minister of Aviation, approached Ethiopian Airlines a few days before the handover, to provide an aircraft that could be made available to Nigerians as an aircraft belonging to Nigeria Air and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA had issued an Air Transport License to Nigeria Air, that was the name for the proposed National Carrier.
“The last administration spent billions of naira ostensibly to acquire the said new national carrier, but the status of the project remains unclear regardless of billions of taxpayers’ funds utilised on the project. “ The lawmaker expressed worry that the trend if not probed may lead to accountability issues, and the project would continue to be a recurring expenditure item in the federal budget.
