Former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has denied spending N100bn on Nigeria Air and called project ‘not a scam’.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has dismissed allegations that the Nigeria Air project initiated under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was a scam.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Tuesday, Sirika insisted that due process was followed and denied claims that he mismanaged N100 billion.
According to him, the entire budget for the national carrier was N5 billion, of which only N3 billion was released. “It is a lie that I spent N100 billion. The total budget was N5 billion, only N3 billion was released, and I left over N1 billion in the ministry,” he said.
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Sirika explained that most of the released funds went into consultancy services and staff salaries. He blamed the project’s failure on a lawsuit filed by some private airlines, including Air Peace, United Nigeria, and Azman Air, which challenged the federal government’s five percent stake in the airline.
“We went through every single step of the Infrastructure Concessioning Regulatory Commission (ICRC) process. We had an airline ready. If not for the court case, Nigeria would have had a national carrier by now,” he added.
Sirika, who is currently facing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged corruption and contract awards to companies linked to his family, also reacted to speculation about his recent visit to the Presidential Villa.
He maintained that his visit was not connected to his ongoing trial but to condole with President Bola Tinubu over the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari and to reaffirm support for the ruling party.
“The matter is before the court, and I won’t discuss it in the media. I am a clean man. The government has the means to investigate my character,” Sirika stated.
