Bashir Ahmad, the Special Assistant on Digital Communications to President Muhammadu Buhari, has reacted after it was revealed that the Nigeria Air plane flown into Abuja on Friday, belongs to Ethiopian Airlines.
OsunDaily News, earlier reported that the Nigeria Air plane landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja for the first time for the proposed airline.
The flight, which took off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia arrived in the country on the 26th of May, 2023.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika also took to his Twitter page to share a video of the plane’s arrival, saying the project has been long, tedious, and difficult.
He however thanked God for the eventual success as well as every stakeholder for their support.
However, checks by Daily Trust revealed that the aircraft is owned by Ethiopian Airlines as the world ‘ET-APL’ is written on the wing of planes operated by Ethiopian Airlines.
This generated outrage online with many Nigerians criticizing the federal government for claiming ownership.
Reacting to this, Bashir Ahmad in a post via Twitter, said it is no secret that Ethiopian Airlines is one of the major partners in the Nigeria Air plane project.
He said Nigerians should expect to see more Ethiopian Airlines branded in national carrier’s colours adding that many airlines around the world are not owned by their government.
He tweeted, “It is never a secret that Ethiopian Airlines is one of the major shareholders/partners in the Nigeria Air Limited projects.
“Never! Save the cry now, and expect to see more Ethiopian Airlines aircraft branded in our national carrier’s colors. Like NigeriaAir, many major airlines around the world are not owned by their governments, British Airways, which IAG owns, is an example”
