The former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has been sought for arrest and prosecution by the Concerned Northern Forum due to his alleged involvement in the Nigeria Air scandal.
The call came after Nigeria Air was labeled a fraud by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation. The Federal Government was also ordered to suspend the airline by the committee.
The supposed Nigeria Air plane that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on May 26, 2023 was a chartered Ethiopia Airlines aircraft, according to Dayo Olumide, the managing director of Nigeria Air.
On Monday, Olumide revealed this when responding to senators’ inquiries. The former aviation minister should be detained and brought to justice by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the northern organization demanded in a statement released by its head, Ali Muhammad, on Thursday.
“The former minister has acted with so much impunity on several occasions as if the law cannot get to him. He had continuously operated as a tyrant minister, refusing to listen to no one, aviation experts, and airline operators of Nigeria who advised against this project.
“This national embarrassment and waste of resources incurred on the country would have been averted if he had listened to advice, yet Sirika went ahead knowing it was a charade, to deceive Nigerians.
“This is an alleged fraud, very much within the reach of the EFCC and the anti-graft agency should, as a matter of national urgency, immediately arrest and investigate Sirika for allegedly committing financial and other related crimes, as he has been deceiving Nigerians for eight years.’’
