The Air Peace CEO said the leadership of the entire management of the airline is skewed in favour of Ethiopia.
The Nigeria Air project, supervised by the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, was presented to Nigerians on Friday, May 26.
The airline launched to serve as Nigeria’s national carrier has an ownership structure of 49 per cent held by Ethiopian Airlines, 46 per cent by Nigerian private investors (SAHCO, MRS and other institutional investors), and five per cent by the federal government.
But Onyema while speaking on Arise TV on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, faulted the shareholding arrangement of the airline, describing it as a charade.
The Air Peace CEO said the leadership of the entire management of the airline is skewed in favour of Ethiopia.
“When you look at this Nigeria Air thing, look at the shareholding, I have it here, the shareholding agreement, without SAHCO, Nigeria would have been in trouble.
“The leadership of the entire management, the DFO, the CEO, all the management positions the headship, Ethiopia, deputies, Nigeria, Then, look at the shareholding in Ethiopia 49%. There’s a company called Fairfax, who is this Fairfax? It’s another (company) owned by an Ethiopian. They are transaction advisers and they’re going to get 3%. They’re going to get 1.45% of the shareholding capital, which is put at around 250 million. Ethiopia will bring 122 million but not as cash but as rentals.
Onyema further condemned the shareholding arrangement which permits Ethiopia to earn 49% of the venture without contributing a penny to the enterprise.
It is only the Nigerian companies that are going to bring money, SAHCO and MRS. I have it here, the document is written here”.
“Ethiopia is not bringing a penny into Nigeria. Ethiopia will pay rentals for their own plane, it is written here in black and white, pay for rentals for their own plane for five years. So even if they pay they pay the N122 million, Air Peace alone is worth over $2 billion. As I speak to you, Boeing is in my office now for the delivery of our 737 Max, which is costing over a billion dollars. Ethiopia is bringing nothing and they’re going to earn 49% of your country’s wealth, I call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately dissolve this charade called Nigeria Air and start his own thing”.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives recently described the purported launch of Nigeria Air as a fraud.
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