On November 12, 2022, a Federal High Court in Lagos restrained the FG from taking any step in relation to the Nigeria Air project until further notice.
The court granted the order following a suit filed by some domestic airlines seeking to stop the FG from partnering with Ethiopian Airlines to float a national carrier.
They asked the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport Licence already issued to Nigeria Air by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
The Court’s order: Justice Lewis Allagoa granted an order of interim and interlocutory injunctions against the FG.
The judge asked all parties in the suit to maintain the Status quo. He also restrained them from taking any further step(s) in relation to the subject matter.
In the enrollment order dated November 15, Justice Allagoa directed the government not to proceed with an “establishment agreement” until the substantive matter of the suit is heard and determined.
The judge also ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.
What it means: This means that the Nigerian Government cannot float a new national carrier before the outgoing administration leaves office on May 29th.
The order stops them from taking further steps in the partnership with Ethiopian Airlines.
Background
Nigeria’s defunct carrier, Nigeria Airways, had collapsed due to poor management and allegations of corruption.
on July 18, 2018. President Buhari’s administration unveiled Nigeria Air at the Farnborough Air Show in England.
As stated by the FG, unlike the previous one, the new carrier will not be wholly owned or managed by the Nigerian government.
In 2022, an invitation to bid for the ownership of Nigeria Air was published in the Economist and in several local Nigerian papers on March 5, with a deadline for the Request for Proposal (RFP) set for June 10.
The bidding process was done under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria and it was overseen by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
In September 2022, the government announced the winners of which Ethiopian Airlines emerged as the core investor in the new carrier with 49 percent shareholding, while MRS, SAHCO, and the Nigerian Sovereign Fund hold 46 percent and the Nigerian government owns five percent.
In March 2023, The Minister of Aviation, at the National Aviation Stakeholders Forum 2023 in Abuja said that Nigeria Air would begin local and international flights soon, despite the controversies and legal dispute.
He said negotiations were ongoing with the Ethiopian Airlines Group Consortium so as to commence floating before the end of this Administration.
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He said “Negotiation meeting with the Ethiopian Airlines Group Consortium and the Federal Government of Nigeria ongoing. Operation of local and international flights will commence soon. Before the end of this administration, before May 29, we will fly,”
However, unsatisfied with the announcement, the airlines which secured a court order sent a letter to remind the minister of what the court had ordered.
In the letter dated 19th April 2023, the plaintiffs through their lawyer, Abubakar Nuhu Ahmed reminded the NCAA of the court order.
The letter reads “You are therefore notified to desist from dealing with the Minister/the Ministry of Aviation and/ or their agents, privies or representatives, pertaining to the Air Operator Certificate (AOC), subject matter of the suit, to avoid consequences of disobedience of court orders.
“As a law-abiding Regulatory Agency, you are under the watchful eyes of the world and it is in your interest to desist from any further action on the AOC process that will ridicule the integrity of the Agency before the local media as well as the Global Aviation Community.”
The Suit
Eight local airlines and their association took the government to court.
They are Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, including Azman Air, Air Peace, Max Air, Topbrass Aviation, and United Nigeria Airlines.
Defendants in the suit include Nigerian Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
They asked the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport Licence already issued to Nigeria Air by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Alleging that the firm which served as Transaction Adviser for the transaction was linked to the aviation minister.
They said the ATL issued to Nigerian Air did not pass through the normal security clearance and the FG’s partnership with Ethiopian Airlines on the project will send domestic airlines out of business by opening up the domestic air travel market to Ethiopian Airlines.
Consequently, in their originating summons, they formulated five questions for the court to determine and prayed for some orders.
They prayed the court for an order directing the immediate revocation and cancellation of the Air Transport License issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to the 1st Defendant.
They also sought “An order of N2bn only as damages “for the injury suffered by the Plaintiffs and still suffering as a result of the wrongful exclusion of the Plaintiffs, wrongful action; unlawful bidding and selection processes and their wrongful projection of the plaintiffs as not having properly, rightly and timely bid for the Nigeria Air project.”
“An order setting aside the entire bidding/selection process(es) for the “Nigeria Air” project as well as the approval, grant, or selection of the 2nd defendant by the 1st, 3rd, and 4th defendants in the process.
“Also,an order directing the immediate, fresh, and transparent bidding process(es) involving the plaintiffs being the indigenous Airline Operators in Nigeria rightly entitled to participate in the process.
“An order directing the immediate revocation and cancellation of the air transport license (ATL) issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to the 1st defendant.”