Ethiopian Airline Group Chief Executive Officer, Mesfin Tasew, has recently addressed the challenges faced in the airline’s partnership with Nigeria to establish a national carrier.
Tasew revealed that the ambitious project, which held the promise of transforming Nigeria’s aviation landscape, was heavily influenced by political factors, ultimately stalling its progress.
He said that Ethiopian Airlines intended to help the Nigerian government establish a profitable airline, but the process was politicised by Nigerian airlines. The partnership to establish Nigeria Air, initiated by the last administration under President Buhari and managed by former aviation minister Hadi Sirika, has generated significant controversy.
The current aviation minister, Festus Keyamo, has stated that the deal would not be beneficial to Nigeria. This marks the first time the Ethiopian Airlines CEO has spoken about the controversial deal after the current government halted the project.
In an interview circulating online, the Ethiopian Airlines CEO stated they had closed the project to help Nigeria set up an airline.
He said, “We had a great hope of establishing a very strong national carrier for Nigeria. We started but unfortunately it didn’t become successful after the change of government in Nigeria; but that project is closed now.
“We don’t have a current plan to go to Nigeria as it stands. We don’t have the intention to partner with any of the Nigerian airlines to date because it has been politicised.
“We tried to help the country by partnering with the government and other institutional investors in Nigeria to use our expertise, our experience and establish a reliable airline that would be profitable in the short term. But as you may have read from the media, it was not welcomed by the Nigerian airlines.
“They considered it in a wrong direction. They believed that if Ethiopian Airlines goes into Nigeria it will hurt their business; which is not right. Our intention was to help the country but since they objected to the idea, there is no need for Ethiopian Airlines to go there as long as they don’t accept it, we don’t want to be a problem there.”
It should be recalled after a Federal Executive Council Meeting in November 2023, Keyamo said the agreements of the deal were unfair on Nigerian airlines as the deal would create monopoly for Ethiopian Airlines.
Keyamo said that reports on the issue had been submitted to President Bola Tinubu who will make a decision 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.”
Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago, the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos declared the sale of Nigerian Air Ltd to Ethiopian Airlines null and void.
In his judgment, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa ordered that the proposed establishment of a national carrier—Nigeria Air—by the Federal Government should not proceed.
The judge issued this order while granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, and five others in the aviation industry.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa granted all the reliefs except for the one requesting N2 billion in damages for the injury suffered by the plaintiffs due to their wrongful exclusion and the unlawful bidding and selection processes for the Nigeria Air project.
