Former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika dismissed claims that the Air Nigeria project conceptualised by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was a scam.
Sirika, a two-term minister, stated this on Tuesday on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, saying the government followed due process.
“I had no intention of speaking about my time in office for now; I intend to bring up a book.
“It is a public-private partnership regulated by the Infrastructure Concessioning Regulatory Commission, which gave certificates and participated actively in the process.
“It is a lie that I spent N100 billion, which was lost in the process. The total budget for the national carrier was N5 billion, the total amount released was N3 billion, and I left the ministry with over N1 billion,” he stated.
The Nigeria Air was launched at the tail end of Buhari’s administration, with many describing the exercise as a fraud.
