…says the total budget for Nigeria Air was N5 billion.
ABUJA, NIGERIA – The iNews Times | Former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has denied reports that he spent N100 billion on the controversial Nigeria Air project during his tenure under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking on Tuesday as a guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, Sirika defended his handling of the failed national carrier project, stating that the total approved budget was just N5 billion and that only N3 billion of that amount was ever released.
“It is a lie that I spent N100 billion, and it was lost in the process,” Sirika said. “The total budget for the national carrier was N5bn, the total amount released was N3 billion, and I left the ministry with over N1 billion.”
The former minister emphasized that the project followed all legal and regulatory procedures, including vetting by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
According to him, Nigeria Air was set to take off until a legal challenge by local carriers halted progress.
“We went through every single step of the ICRC process, and we got it to the end and we had an airline,” he said.
“Some people went to court – Air Peace, United Nigeria, and Azman to say the government could not establish an airline while holding a five percent stake. That court case stalled everything.”
Sirika argued that if the government had pursued and resolved the legal dispute, Nigeria Air would have been operational by now.
The former minister left office in 2023 and is currently facing a corruption trial initiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The charges include alleged abuse of office and the award of multi-billion naira contracts to companies linked to his daughter, Fatima Sirika, and his son-in-law, Jalal Hamma.
Despite these allegations, Sirika maintains his innocence and insists that his actions as minister were guided by due process and national interest.
