Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday halted the sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines.
In the judgment, the court declared null and void the sale of the shares of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines after determining the issues in the suit.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa also ordered that the Nigerian Federal Government’s plans to establish a national carrier, Nigeria Air, should be halted.
The judgment, which was delivered in favour of the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and five other aviation industry stakeholders, granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs except for the request for N2bn in damages.
The report by the Punch newspaper on Tuesday said that the plaintiffs in the case included the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, and Topbrass Aviation Limited.
It added that the defendants were Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, the Federal Ministry of Aviation, and the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
It explained that in the Originating Summons, the plaintiffs in the suit challenged the sale and transfer of shares of Nigeria Air, claiming that the bidding process for Nigeria Air, facilitated by the Federal Government of Nigeria, was fraught with irregularities and favoured the Ethiopian Airlines, a foreign entity wholly owned by the Ethiopian Government.
The plaintiffs also argued that the Federal Ministry of Transportation representatives, who hold significant control in Nigeria Air, failed to comply with the request for proposal guidelines, leading to the exclusion of local airlines from the bidding process.
