A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has declared the sale of Nigeria Air Ltd to Ethiopian Airlines null and void.
The presiding judge, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in his ruling stopping the sale, ordered that the proposed establishment of a national carrier-Nigeria Air, by the Federal Government, should be put on hold.
The court’s decision came in response to a case lodged by the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and five other aviation industry plaintiffs.
They had sought legal reliefs to block the sale, which they argued was wrongly executed.
Lewis-Allagoa held that all the reliefs sought are granted except for the relief asking for N2 billion as damages for the injury suffered by the Plaintiffs as a result of their wrongful exclusion and the wrongful action; unlawful bidding and selection processes for the Nigeria Air project.
The plaintiffs had filed the suit against the first to fourth defendants; Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, Senator Hadi Sirika (former Minister of Aviation, Federal Ministry of Aviation) and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
In the suit, the plaintiffs had asked the court to make an order setting aside the entire bidding/selection process(es) for the “Nigeria Air” project as well as the approval, grant or selection of Ethiopian Airlines by the Former Minister, Hadi Sirika and then Former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
