Nigerian musician, Peter Okoye of Psquare has reacted to the controversy surrounding the launch of ‘Nigeria Air.’
The singer via his Twitter page, lamented how money continues to disappear from the country through corrupt politicians.
Recall that the acting Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Dayo Olumide had admitted that the ‘Nigeria Air’ airplane that landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on 26th May 2023, was a chartered one from Ethiopia.
The revelation comes after the House of Representatives had declared the launch of Nigeria Air as a scam.
Reacting to the development, Peter Okoye took to Twitter and wrote: “Monkey stole billions, 🐍 snake swallowed billions 🚶🏿♂️🚶🏿♂️ only in Nigeria 🇳🇬…. Now they borrowed an Ethiopian aircraft for a photo shoot worth 190 billion naira 🤷🏾♂️ wetin remain again 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ dem go soon sell this country.”
Why We Chartered Ethiopian Airlines Aircraft
Meanwhile, the Acting Managing Director (AMD) of Nigeria Air, Capt. Dapo Olumide explained why an aircraft was chartered from Ethiopian Airlines for the unveiling of Nigerian Air with a Nigerian logo.
Recall that Ethiopian Airlines ownership of the Boeing 737-800 series aircraft flown into Abuja from Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on May 26 made the news shortly after the unveiling ceremony of Nigeria Air.
The aircraft was said to have taken off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at 9:55 am on May 26 and landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at 12:43 p.m.
Speaking shortly after the aircraft landed, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, expressed delight that after “a very long, tedious, daunting and difficult path”, the project had taken off.
The said Nigerian Air was later unveiled with registration ET-APL at the General Aviation Terminal of the Abuja airport. The development, however, was received with mixed reactions among Nigerians, OsunDaily News reports.
Subsequent findings revealed that the aircraft flew for its original airline up till four days before it was brought to Nigeria.
It was again gathered that it embarked on a trip from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv in Israel.
The flight history obtained from Flightradar, a popular flight tracking website, revealed that the aircraft operated between Tel Aviv and Mogadishu, Somalia, still on May 21, 2023. On 20th May, it operated both Mogadishu in Somalia and Beirut on 20th May while the previous day, it also serviced Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
