Court nullifies sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines, halts further plans for national carrier
By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Monday declared null and void the sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa after determining the issues raised in the suit, ordered that the Federal Government’s plans to establish a national carrier, ‘Nigeria Air’, should be halted.
Justice Allagoa nullified the sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines in his judgement delivered in favour of the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and five other aviation industry stakeholders.
He granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs except the request for N2 billion as damages.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, and Topbrass Aviation Limited,
while the defendants are Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, former Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika, the Federal Ministry of Aviation, and the former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami.
In the Originating Summons, the plaintiffs challenged the sale and transfer of shares of Nigeria Air.
They claimed that the bidding process for Nigeria Air, facilitated by the Federal Government of Nigeria, was fraught with irregularities and favoured Ethiopian Airlines, a foreign entity wholly owned by the Ethiopian Government.
The plaintiffs argued that the Federal Ministry of Transportation representatives, who hold significant control in Nigeria Air, failed to comply with the request for proposal guidelines, leading to the exclusion of local airlines from the bidding process.
The plaintiffs averred that the 3rd and 4th defendants, who are key government officials, facilitated a skewed bidding process, granting the 2nd defendant and its consortium unprecedented privileges. These include a 15-year tax moratorium, exclusive terminal buildings in Lagos and Abuja, and significant financial support, which they argue will undermine local airlines and the Nigerian economy.
According to the plaintiffs, the consortium led by Ethiopian Airlines was discreetly allowed to be the sole bidder and winner, contrary to the principles of free and fair competition.
The 2nd defendant’s business plan also proposed strategies that could stultify the operations of local airlines, further jeopardizing the Nigerian aviation industry.
Additionally, the plaintiffs highlighted that Tianaero Nigeria Limited, the transaction advisor for the deal, was inadequately qualified and lacked the necessary experience, raising further concerns about the legitimacy of the bidding process.
The plaintiffs asserted that the entire process has been marred by politics and personal interests, designed to achieve an outcome detrimental to Nigerian airlines and the broader public interest.
They sought an order to nullify the entire bidding and selection process for the Nigeria Air project, as well as the approval and selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the defendants.
In the judgement delivered on Monday, Justice Lewis-Allagoa, also discountenanced the sole issues raised by the 2nd defendant (Ethiopian Airlines).
He held,” All the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs are granted except for relief number eight.
“An award made in this regard in the instant case the plaintiffs requested for damages of N2billion, for the injury suffered by the Plaintiffs and still suffering as a result of the wrongful exclusion of the Plaintiffs, wrongful action; unlawful bidding and selection processes and their wrongful projection of the Plaintiffs as not having properly, rightly and timely bid for the Nigeria Air project.
“Relief number eight failed and cannot be granted”.