The Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace, Toyin Olajide, has stated that the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, lied about some of the claims he made on Air Peace during his yesterday Sunday interview on Arise Television.
The ex-minister, while praising Ethiopian Airlines, stated that Air Peace leased ‘two’ Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000, parked the aircraft for several months and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft engines and landing gears became due for replacement when the airline were ready to fly.
Sirika went on to ask, “who does that?” He stated that Ethiopian Airlines would never do that.
Responding to this, Olajide in a statement said, “this is a blatant lie as we have three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft which were never leased or rented but were purchased outrightly by the airline.
“Air peace never incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals contrary to his lies. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority can attest to the purchase and ownership of the Aircraft by Air peace.”
The former minister also said that the airline stopped flying to Dubai because it lacks capacity. The COO of Air Peace also described this as “another stark lie.”
According to her, Air Peace never stopped the Dubai operations because of lack of capacity. She said, Air peace commenced operations into the UAE in July 2019, but in October 2022, the UAE Government announced a total visa ban on Nigerians.
“Neither Emirates nor Air Peace has operated the Nigerian/UAE route since the ban. The persisting non-issuance of visas and the accompanying inconveniences necessitated the suspension of our Dubai operations from November 22, 2022, till date.
“For the former minister to ascribe the suspension to ‘lack of capacity’ is not only shocking but also shows how keen he is to disparage an airline that has defied all the commercial odds and hostile environment placed on its path to continue to serve our nation proudly.
“How could an airline that placed a firm order for 13 brand new E2-195 aircraft, a firm order of 15 Boeing 737 Max 8 & Max 10, with over 30 aircraft already in its existing fleet be accused of lacking in capacity?
“How can an Airline that stood up for the entire nation during the COVID-19 outbreak, and embarked on rescue operations worldwide, evacuating Nigerians from far away China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, UK and South Africa during the COVID-19 lockdowns be accused of lacking capacity?” Olajide added.
She, however, urged the public to disregard the comments made by the former Minister of Aviation against Air Peace during the interview on Arise Television.
She added, “We take serious exception to a situation where Air Peace is being misrepresented in the public sphere, causing wrong perceptions about our brand.”
In same interview, Hadi Sirika, also accused the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee of Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, of demanding a five per cent stake in the controversial and proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air.
Sirika made this accusation in the same interview with Arise Television on Sunday 11th of June.
Earlier, Nnaji had declared Nigeria Air as a fraudulent deal after stakeholders in the project appeared.
Before then, the Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Dayo Olumide, while facing inquiries by lawmakers on the project, revealed that the aircraft that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 26, 2023, was chartered from Ethiopia Airlines.
However, speaking during the interview, Sirika said, “I record all my things. He asked that I should give him five per cent of the Nigeria Air to carry him along with his people and I said to him that time, this is a bidding process that has taken place, and some people won. So, I think you should go to those people and ask them for the five per cent; I even told him that at some point even the five per cent held by the Federal Government will go to the market so he should get his money ready and buy for him and his people.”
Sirika also disclosed that less than N3bn was spent on Nigeria Air.
In a swift reaction, Nnaji described Sirika’s allegations as lies, adding that the ex-minister is a drowning man who will hold on to anything to survive.
The House panel chair said, “Sirika is a drowning man struggling to grab anything on his way to survive the barrage of attacks he has been receiving since his controversial unveiling ceremony of the so-called Nigeria Air.
Ordinarily, I would not have reacted to the allegation that I demanded a five per cent equity stake in Nigeria as he claimed but I believe I owe my constituents and indeed Nigerians a duty to put the records straight.”
He added, “He should not deviate from the subject matter. Let him tell Nigerians the truth about the contraption they sold to us as Nigeria Air.”
Meanwhile, many Nigerians are worried that the Ethiopian Airlines deal will make Nigeria Air a feeder airline to it. They are of the opinion that because of its largest shares as proposed, it will be seen as Ethiopian Airlines and would be barred from flying to major routes that Nigerians are currently being ripped off by foreign airlines with fare fixing of which it’s also part of.