The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has again faulted the agreement the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari signed with Ethiopian Airlines on the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air.
The minister, who briefed State House reporters on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said the agreements of the deal were unfair to Nigerian airlines as the deal would create a 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 pre-empt 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 they’re before Mr. President. But let me just give you one or two snippets because Nigerians 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 grant 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—in Ethiopia and Nigeria, and we agreed?” he queried.
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