The Federal Government has announced that it has not picked a technical partner or core investor for Nigeria Air
Nigeria FG denies picking Ethiopian Airlines as a technical partner, core investor for Nigeria Air
The Federal Government has announced that it has not picked a technical partner or core investor for Nigeria Air.
A close source to the Ministry of Aviation did confide in Nairametrics that Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation may give a speech on Thursday about the update on the national carrier.
The government said that they were still at the diligent stage of the exercise, but didn't state when the airline would commence flight services.
A close source to the Ministry of Aviation who did not agree to be mentioned debunked the claim which said that the Federal Government selected Ethiopian Airlines as a technical partner as well as a core investor for the airline.
The source said that the government still needed to undergo some stages before concluding on a technical partner for the airline.
The source equally told our correspondent that before either a technical partner or a core investor is picked by the government, appropriate government agencies would be carried along, such as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), and others.
The source demanded that the team was at the due diligence stage and would reveal its preferred partners to everyone at the right time.
The source said “The news you are hearing is not correct. You know there are processes in government. We have the ICRC, BPE, and other agencies that must be in the know and carried along in whatever you do in government; you must apply due diligence.”
“The airline must be registered and so on. Then, when you come back, you will now decide which airline you want to partner with. Moreover, you still have to agree on a commercial with your partner. Which aircraft are you bringing? When are you going to bring them and the routes you will want to go? We should not be dwelling on rumours. Whatever that is in the public space now is a rumour and incorrect.”
Sen. Hadi could not be reached for confirmation when inquiries were made on the issue by Nairametrics, while he did not respond to the text message that was sent to his mobile phone.