Claims that the Nigeria Air project, which was started under the Buhari administration, was a scam have been denied by former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika.
Sirika emphasized that the project was a public-private partnership that adhered to due process and was overseen by the Infrastructure Concessioning Regulatory Commission (ICRC) during her appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Tuesday.
“The claim that I spent N100 billion is untrue; money was lost during the transaction. The national carrier had a N5 billion budget, N3 billion was released, and I left the ministry with more than N1 billion, he underlined.
As he intends to write a book detailing his tenure, the former minister stated that he had no intention of commenting.
Launched in May 2023, just before Buhari’s term ended, the contentious Nigeria Air was widely criticized by the public and industry stakeholders as being fraudulent.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently trying Sirika for alleged contract fraud. He was charged with more than N19 billion in aviation-related contracts in May 2024, along with his brother and related companies.
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