Sirika alleges Reps committee chairman asked for 5% stake in Nigeria Air

The immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, alleged on Sunday that the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Nnaji Nnolim, demanded a five percent stake in Nigeria Air.

The committee had on June 6 ordered the suspension of flight operations and other actions associated with the Nigeria Air project.

Nnolim, who spoke at the House investigative hearing in Abuja, described the unveiling of Nigeria Air as a fraud and called for the prosecution of individuals or organizations involved in the exercise.

This followed claims that the unveiling of the national carrier was shrouded in secrecy.

Sirika, who spoke in a programme on Arise TV, however, rebuked the House committee chairman for having a pre-conceived opinion about the project.

He revealed that Nnolim and his committee members requested a stake in the project.

READ ALSO: ‘Nigeria Air unveiled by shareholders, not FG,’ says ex-aviation minister, Sirika

The ex-minister said: “He (committee chairman) asked to give him five percent of Nigeria Air to carry him along with his people, and I said to him at that time that honourable, this is a bidding process that has taken place, and some people won. So, I think you should go to those people and ask for the five percent.

“I want to assure you that at that point, even the five percent held by the federal government will go to market. So he should get his money ready and buy for himself and his people, according to him.

“He said he wants him and his people. I don’t know what this meant. It could be his family members or the House leadership. However, I told him to relax on his request for five percent and approach the owners. That’s exactly what I told him on camera.”

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