Air Nigeria: Court Voids Agreement With Ethiopian Airlines

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has declared the agreement between the federal government and Ethiopian Airlines null and void.

The agreement handed over the management of the proposed Nigeria Air to the foreign airline.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa also ordered the withdrawal of the Air Transport Licence already issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government/Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

The judge further directed the immediate, fresh, and transparent bidding process(es) involving the Plaintiffs, the Indigenous Airline Operators in Nigeria rightly entitled to participate.

The plaintiffs in the matter are Azman Air Services, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, Topbrass Aviation Limited, and the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operator of Nigeria.

Nigerian Air, Ethiopian Airlines, the Minister of Aviation, and the Attorney-General of the Federation are the defendants.

In 2022, the then Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced that Ethiopian Airlines won the bid to manage Nigeria Air, agreeing to a structure with a 49% stake, the Federal Government 5%, SAHCO 15%, and other investors 31%.

In their application, the plaintiffs argued that Tianaero Nigeria Limited, which served as Transaction Adviser for the transaction between Nigeria and Ethiopia Airways, was incorporated in March last year and is linked to the former aviation minister.

They also asked the court to award N2 billion against the defendants as damages for the injury they suffered and are still suffering as a result of their wrongful exclusion, wrongful action, unlawful bidding and selection processes and wrongful projection as not having properly, rightly and timely bid for the Nigeria Air project.

The airlines had prayed to the court for an order directing the immediate, fresh, and transparent bidding process(es) involving the Plaintiffs, the Indigenous Airline Operators in Nigeria, who are rightly entitled to participate.

They also sought an order directing the immediate revocation and cancellation of the Air Transport License (ATL) issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to the first defendant.

The plaintiffs urged the judge for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, officers, privies, and principals from perfecting, continuing and transferring the operations of Nigeria Air by the third and fourth defendants to the second defendant.

In an affidavit attached to the suit, the plaintiffs stated that they, amongst others, as private investors, took steps to partake in the bidding process but were blocked in an intricate web of politics and personal interests designed to reach contrived outcomes adverse to the overall interests of the Nigerian State and its citizens.

“The second Defendant, who is not a private entity but a wholly-owned Ethiopian Government parastatal and its consortium, which is mainly foreigners, were discreetly allowed to be the sole bidder and winner of the purported bidding process.

“The bidding proposal is designed and structured to kill off domestic airlines and any possible form of competition through predatory ticket pricing, increase capital flight through the unfettered repatriation of funds by the 2nd Defendant as guaranteed by the draft Agreement and hurt the consumers, Nigerian people and the economy,” they averred.

The plaintiffs also asserted that the entire process had been marred by politics and personal interests, designed to achieve an outcome detrimental to Nigerian airlines and the broader public interest.

In his judgement, Justice Lewis-Allagoa granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs except for relief number eight, in which they asked for an award of N2 billion in damages.

The court held that the airlines had not suffered any damages that would compel it to order compensation. “Relief number eight failed and cannot be granted.