NigerianFLIGHTDECK Travel and Business Reportage 
- NASS Committee insists on Presidential Panel Probe
- Prosecution for individuals, groups connected to ‘unveiling’
Named investor, Skypower Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) has revealed contrary to speculations that it has not acquired shares yet in the proposed carrier Nigeria Air.
This is just as second Nigerian investor MRS and 49% stake owners Ethiopian Airlines abstained from the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation investigative hearing on the recent unveiling of the National carrier.
The House of Representatives Committee equally established that shareholders’ agreement was yet to be executed which made it impossible to establish the funds being brought into the projects by all intended investors.
The industry has been rife with speculation that Nigerian institutional investors SAHCO and MRS have both invested 15% each into the national carrier project only for SAHCO’s representative at the probe and Consultant to SAHCO on Nigeria Air, Boye Oyewumi to put paid to that information stating that the handling company was yet to acquire any shares in the national carrier.
Recall that information also making rounds is the 3% share owned by the Transaction Advisor who incidentally has been allegedly given a seat on the board.
To this end, Chairman of the committee Hon. Nnolim Nnaji has called on the new administration to immediately constitute a high powered presidential panel to undertake a holistic review of the Nigeria Air project and advise the Federal Government on the way forward .
In a presulolution read by Hon. Nnaji at the end of the investigative hearing, it also resolved that all individuals, groups and organisations involved in the controversial unveiling and operation into Nigeria, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft painted in Nigeria Air livery be made to face prosecution.
The resolutions of the committee came up after evaluating the submissions by all the stakeholders and that of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Dr Emmanuel Merebole who in his presentation said that the airline had not been launched, rather he said the aircraft was chartered to test Nigerians’ acceptance of the project.
Dr Merebole also told the committee that the Nigeria Air had not acquired any aircraft and that it had no air Operator’s Certificate, (AOC) which the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) Captain Musa Nuhu also collaborated.
The committee Chairman said it was regrettable that the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, despite promises of supplying the committee details of the transactions failed to carry the parliament along in the entire arrangement.
He, however, praised the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) for refusing to bend the rules in favour of the Nigeria Air urging the authority to remain steadfast in its oversight function of the industry.
