The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, reiterates objections to the agreement signed by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari with Ethiopian Airlines for the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air.
The minister, addressing State House reporters on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, expressed concerns that the terms of the agreement were unjust to Nigerian airlines, potentially resulting in a monopoly for Ethiopian Airlines.
Keyamo noted that reports on the matter had been submitted to President Bola Tinubu, who will be responsible for deciding on the deal.
The minister said he “cannot preempt my President”, adding that “All the reports, everything, we have forwarded to Mr President, the issues we met on the ground.”
“But just to say that it would have been irresponsible of me as minister to take over office and close my eyes totally to those concerns.”
“So because of that, we suspended it to say, let’s just look at all the issues and recommend. Now we have looked at all the issues and it’s before Mr President. But let me just give you one or two snippets because Nigerians who are quick to judge.”
“In the agreement, you are giving tax waivers to Ethiopian Airlines coming into Nigeria, they ask for tax waivers for five years and you granted them to come and compete with your local airlines who are paying those heavy taxes, how? You want to create a monopoly?”
“In the agreement, they also made a proposal that they would appoint everybody, top management, everybody, Ethiopia, in Nigeria and we agreed?” he queried.