The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said that if Nigeria operates a national airline, it must be wholly owned by Nigerians.
In an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday, Keyamo said the national airline must be organized to benefit the Nigerian economy.
The minister criticized the previous Nigerian aviation project, saying it would place control of Nigeria's aviation sector in the hands of a foreign government.
He warned that such an arrangement would be detrimental to Nigeria’s economy.
“If we have to launch a national airline, it must be completely Nigerian. may be brought about,” Keyamo said.
“All profits will go to Addis Ababa.”
Keyamo highlighted flaws in the contract with Ethiopian Airlines, revealing that Nigeria was to pay $112 million in wet lease fees over three years without any return on foreign direct investment (FDI). .
He dismissed claims that FDI was lost, noting that the profits would have flowed to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“An American man who is one of the stewards of Nigeria Airways is flying from one station to another screaming that Nigeria has lost foreign direct investment and so on,” he said.
“We called it a local term back then. What is foreign direct investment? All the profits were going to Addis Ababa anyway.
“The planes they brought…we were bringing them on a wet lease, so we were going to pay for them. We were going to pay $112 million over three years. You will have to pay.
“There was no firm agreement to build a hub here. It was terrible from start to finish.”
Mr. Keyamo also expressed concern about Ethiopian Airlines’ potential dominance on Nigeria Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) routes, which include high-value destinations such as London, New York, Paris and Johannesburg.
“The Nigerian Air Deal leaves an important position for the Ethiopian people.”
Keyamo said the agreement reserved key executive positions within Nigeria Airways for Ethiopians and left no leadership roles for Nigerians.
“It’s scary that a foreign government is coming to take over all these lines,” he said.
“Not only that, all the key positions in the executive ranks, if not all of the key positions in Nigeria Airways, such as CEO, Director of Operations and Finance, were reserved for Ethiopians and not Nigerians.
“The CEO of Nigeria Airways is not a Nigerian, but an Ethiopian. That’s scary.”
He said Ethiopian workers are exempt from paying taxes to the Nigerian government under the agreement.
The minister said Ethiopian Airlines was also granted permission to operate local flights between Lagos and Abuja, posing a serious threat to Nigeria’s domestic aviation industry.
In 2023, the Ministry of Aviation under former Minister Hadi Sirika announced Nigeria Airways three days before the end of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The development had raised concerns among stakeholders across the country over the ownership agreement that gave Ethiopian Airlines a 49 percent stake.
The federal government held a 5% stake, and a consortium of three Nigerian investors held a 46% stake.
Reacting to the June 2023 agreement, the House of Representatives called on the Federal Government to suspend Nigerian Airways operations, calling it a “fraud.”
In August 2023, Keyamo announced that the national telecom project would be suspended until further notice.
The Federal High Court in Lagos State also invalidated Nigeria Airways’ share sale to Ethiopian Airlines.
