A Lagos Federal High Court yesterday nullified the sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines.
Immediate past Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika brokered the deal under ex-President Muhamudu Buhari’s administration.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, who presided over the case, declared the sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines as null and void.
The court delivered the verdict while determining the issues in the suit filed by the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and five other aviation industry’s stakeholders against Nigeria Air.
With the nullification of the sale of Nigeria Air, Justice Lewis-Allagoa also ordered the Federal Government to halt plans to establish a national carrier under Nigeria Air.
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.
The defendants are: Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, Hadi Sirika, the Federal Ministry of Aviation, and Abubakar Malami (former Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister).
In their originating summons, the plaintiffs challenged the sale and transfer of the shares of Nigeria Air.
They also 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’s representatives, who held 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.
They also argued that the third and fourth defendants, who are key government officials, facilitated a skewed bidding process, granting the second 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 said would 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.
They argued that the second defendant’s business plan also proposed strategies that could stultify the operations of local airlines, further jeopardising the Nigerian aviation industry.
Additionally, the plaintiffs alleged 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 said the entire process was marred by politics and personal interests designed to achieve an outcome that was detrimental to Nigerian airlines and the broader public interest.
They prayed the court for an order to nullify the bidding and selection process for the Nigeria Air project, as well as the approval and selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the defendants.
In his judgment yesterday, Justice Lewis-Allagoa discountenanced the sole issues raised by the second defendant (Ethiopian Airlines) and held that: “all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs are granted except for relief number eight”.
He added: “An award made in this regard in the instant case the plaintiffs requested for damages of N2 billion, 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”.
