By Usman Tanko
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Vanguard for Good Governance has faulted the comments attributed to the House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Aviation, Hon. Pharmacist Nnolim Nnaji, in which described the setting up of Nigeria Air as fraud.
In a statement made available to the media on Wednesday, 7th April, 2023, the National Leader of the socio-political group, Alhaji Tosin Adeniyi said: “We strongly condemn the show of shame that occurred at the National Assembly on Wednesday, 6th June, 2023. In the name of conducting inquiry into the affairs of the Nigeria Air, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji ended up showing his true hands and who his paymasters are.
“He de-marketed and bad mouthed the Nigeria Air in order to please his Igbo brothers, Allen Onyema (owner of Airpeace airlines), and Obiora Okonkwo (owner of United Nigeria Airlines), who under the guise of being representatives of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), have only one motive, which is to continue to operate as monopolies while the Nigerian passengers continue to suffer from their high ticket prices and poor services.”
Continuing, Alhaji Adeniyi said: “We have it on good authority that, although Hon. Pharmacist Nnolim Nnaji was elected under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent the people of Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency. He has since turned himself into a Labour Party hatchet man in the hope that the election tribunal judgement would favour his closet Labour Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and he would be rewarded with the position of Aviation Minister or another post.
“We are not fooled by the antics of Hon. Nnolim Nnaji and his co-travelers and alarmists. Their plans to destabilize the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose agenda is also to support the creation of a national carrier will fail. We wish to let Nigerians know that Hon. Nnolim Nnaji is using his position as the House Committee Chairman on Aviation to feather his own political nests and to cash-out big time from his sponsors. He does not mean well for Nigeria and has always shown unpatriotic tendencies. Nigerians should ask him where he is getting the money which he has been offering to blogs and media houses to help him fly his unpatriotic statement that ‘Nigeria Air is fraud.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed should be wary of double agents like Hon. Nnolim Nnaji. If the Nigeria Air does not commence flight operations as scheduled by Quarter 3, 2023, as detailed in a widely circulated document titled, ‘Nigeria Air, The Journey So Far’, Nigerians should hold Nnolim and his co-travelers responsible.
“We are in support of the setting up of Nigeria Air. We have listened to several stakeholders on the benefits of having a national carrier. This was also detailed in the status update document released by the Nigeria Air. The immediate-past General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Olayinka Abioye, has also listed the gains as follows:
““Nigeria stands to gain in terms of cultural heritage, national pride, job opportunities, and foreign direct investments, among others.”
“It is surprising that Hon. Nnolim Nnaji would speak of Hadi Sirika, immediate past Minister of Aviation, in such unpleasant terms. This was the same Hon. Nnolim Nnaji that was singing the Honourable Minister’s praises while he was in office for his ministry’s efforts in repositioning the aviation sector, the improvements at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, and at other airports.
“It was during the tenure of Hadi Sirika that the aviation sector in Nigeria experienced tremendous growth. Need we remind Hon. Nnolim Nnaji of who Hadi Sirika is? A former police aircraft engineer, trained pilot, doctorate degree holder in aviation business, former member of the Federal House of Representatives, former Senator, former Minister of State, and Former Minister of Aviation.
“Hon. Nnolim Nnaji can not match the character of the man he is trying so unsuccessfully to tarnish his image for selfish political gains, and parochialism. We challenge Hon. Nnolim Nnaji to a public debate to account to his people what he has achieved since he was elected a member of the House of Representatives.
“The Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Dapo Olumide, stated the facts during his appearance at the House of Representatives hearing on Wednesday, 6th June, 2023, although he was majorly misquoted, and mischievously too, by a section of the media. We urge Nigerians not to believe the propaganda and false narrative being pushed out by Hon. Pharm. Nnolim Nnaji and his band of unpatriotic Nigerians. Nigeria Air has published their ‘Nigeria Air, The Journey So Far’ document which chronicles from start to the present all that the people require to know about Nigeria Air. The document is available on Nigeria Air website (www.flynigeriaair.world). It was also published on Page 12 of Daily Trust and page 10 of the Guardian newspaper of Wednesday, 6th June, 2023.
“Nigerians must know that the House of Representatives never passed a resolution saying that ‘Nigeria Air is fraud’. It is the PDP man and covet Labour Party apologist, Hon. Pharmacist Nnolim Nnaji from Enugu state that did, in his wisdom.
“When the House of Representatives set up a committee, the committee cannot issue an order outside its terms of reference. The Committee must report to the Committee of the whole house and the Chairman is the Deputy Speaker. Whatever the House of Representatives agrees is a RESOLUTION, and it is not binding on the executive. The questions to ask are: (1) Has Hon. Pharmacist Nnaji submitted his report?
(2) Have committee members adopted their report to be submitted to the whole House? Honourable Pharmacist Nnaji should stop playing politics with Private Airline Operators.
“Those who have come to understand the hands rocking the cradle from the background now understand the link between Airpeace Airlines and Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, who is also the majority shareholder in Fidelity Bank. The bank is the sole funding partner of Airpeace Airlines. Obiora Okonkwo, the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines was the Anambra State Campaign Coordinator of PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar during the 2023 general elections.
“Our conclusion is that Hon. Pharmacist Nnolim Nnaji is executing a proxy political and economic war against APC and against the people of Nigeria. This must stop, and he should be called to order.”
