Businessman Faults Airline’s Claims On Seat-swap Controversy

A prominent businessman, Mikai’l El-Yaqub, has described as false, the claim by the station Manager of Max Air in Kano, Bello Ramalan, over the controversial incident aboard the airline’s flight from Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) to Abuja on Sunday, December 8, 2025.

Narrating his own side of the story on Monday, Mr. El-Yaqub said the claims by Mr Ramalan in a media interview about the incident were incomplete and “do not reflect the true sequence of events.”

According to him, his office booked business class tickets for himself, his wife, and their two infants, and they selected 1C and 1D seats.

He said upon arrival at the airport, his longtime check assistant informed him that “there was a problem” because the seats had been changed.

“He had gone to collect my boarding pass and discovered that my seats had been changed from 1C and 1D to a seat in the third row,” he said.

When he asked why, he was told that Max Air claimed the aircraft “did not have a business-class cabin” and therefore his original seats could not be honoured.

“I told him that, even if the aircraft type had changed, seat numbers like 1C and 1D still exist on the aircraft and there was no clear reason for moving my family from our assigned seats,” he added.

Mr El-Yaqub said that when he approached the Max Air counter for clarification, a staff repeated that the aircraft type had changed and that he had been “downgraded” to economy class.

“One staff member made an usual statement: ‘Do you know who that seat was allocated to?’ I asked what he meant by that, but no one responded.”

He further explained that upon boarding the aircraft, the seat numbers 1C and 1D were empty, prompting him and his family to sit on them.

According to him, the station manager, Bello Ramalan, then entered the aircraft and questioned why he was occupying the seats.

“I calmly explained that my seat was originally 1C/1D and I had not been given any genuine explanation for the reassignment except that the seats had been allocated to someone else,” he noted.

“I refused to move until given a proper explanation.”

Mr El-Yaqub said the station manager returned with airport security personnel, “including members of the Air Force,” in an attempt to forcibly remove him and his family.

He said the situation was only de-escalated after intervention from prominent passengers on board, including Senator Abdul Aziz Yar’Adua, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin Kofa, Senator Lawan Shuibu, and the MD of KEDCO.

Mr El-Yaqub said he later confirmed that the reason for his seat reassignment was to accommodate the Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.

“It later became clear that my seat had been reserved at the last-minute for the governor of Kano State because seat 1D has the widest legroom on that aircraft type,” he said.

“Rather than inform me politely or request a swap, the airline simply replaced my seat without explanation and attempted to force me out of it in front of my family.” he said.

He added that contrary to claims by Max Air officials, he was never offered an apology.
“When I went to the counter, the station manager was there but didn’t even turn his head to look at me, talkless of apologising,” he said.

“The narration by Bello Ramalan that they spent more than 30 minutes apologising is untrue. I didn’t spend more than a minute at the counter.”

He stressed that he had no personal issue with the governor and would have willingly given up his seat had he been respectfully approached.

“If I had been politely asked to offer my seat to the governor, or if I had even seen him sitting anywhere other than the first row, I would gladly have offered my seat without hesitation.

“My only concern was the lack of courtesy, transparency, and the attempt to forcibly remove my family,” he said.

Mr. El-Yaqub insisted his statement was not intended to escalate tensions but to correct false narratives.

“The account given to Sahara Reporters, by the station manager was incomplete and does not reflect the true sequence of events,” Mr El-Yakub insisted.