The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu will revisit the Nigeria-Ethiopia airline controversy.
Keyamo recently shared this information during an interactive session with reporters in Abuja, explaining that all details on the issue are before the President for consideration.
He also clarified that documents and agreements signed between the Nigerian airline and Ethiopian airline require critical scrutiny for national interest.
He noted that more attention would be paid to staffing and tax waivers.
According to him, all the documents, reports, and everything his leadership encountered upon assuming office have been forwarded to the President for scrutiny.
News About Nigeria gathered that, six months after the Nigeria-Ethiopia Airline agreement, with the availability of an aircraft (a Boeing 737-800), the airliner has not functioned since then.
Speaking on the staffing agreement, Keyamo lamented that all positions are to be handed over to Ethiopian investors, stressing that the majority of the new airline staff would be Ethiopians, and Nigerian representatives agreed.
Regarding the tax agreement, he said, “In the agreement, you are giving tax waivers to Ethiopian Airlines coming into Nigeria. They asked for tax waivers for five years, and you granted them to come and compete with your local airlines, which are paying those heavy taxes. How? Do you want to create a monopoly? That’s why when they tell you that we want to crash prices, it’s a lie. It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Keyamo, who also stated that only fair competition could bring down the cost of flights, added that it would be irresponsible for Tinubu’s administration to accept a deal with the Ethiopian airline that gives a monopoly to a foreign airline.
