Mesfin Tasew, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Ethiopian Airlines, has blamed politics for the failure to establish a national carrier in Nigeria.
According to him, Ethiopian Airlines intended to assist the Nigerian government in establishing a successful airline, but the process was politicized by Nigerian airlines, who rejected it.
The partnership to establish Nigeria Air, which was initiated by President Buhari’s previous administration and managed by former aviation minister Hadi Sirika, has sparked a lot of controversy, with current aviation minister Festus Keyamo claiming that the deal would not benefit Nigeria.
It is the first time the Ethiopian Airlines CEO has spoken out about the contentious transaction since the present administration blocked it.
According to an interview with Bloomberg, Ethiopian Airlines’ CEO confirmed that the effort to assist Nigeria in establishing an airline has been closed.
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.”
Breifing state house correspondents 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.”
Recently, the Federal High Court in Lagos ruled that Nigerian Air Ltd’s sale to Ethiopian Airlines was void.
In his decision to halt the sale, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa ruled that the Federal Government’s proposed establishment of a national carrier, Nigeria Air, should not proceed.
The judge issued the ruling while approving the plaintiffs’ requests for relief, which included the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and five others in the aviation business.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa ruled that all of the reliefs sought were granted, with the exception of the relief seeking N2 billion in damages for the plaintiffs’ injuries sustained as a result of their wrongful exclusion and illegal action; unlawful bidding and selection processes for the Nigeria Air project.
