The much-awaited flight on Abuja-London route for Air Peace, the Nigerian-owned entity, which recently began operations on the Lagos-London space, will soon commence as the airline has secured the nod of the Federal Government to go full blast with the operation.

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, who gave the indication, when he appeared as a guest on Politics Today a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, said the competition that would arise from the development was good for not only the industry, but Nigerians, billed to benefit from it.

A palpably upbeat Keyamo, told his host: “Just yesterday (Wednesday), I approved Air Peace for the Abuja-London route, not only Lagos-London route. British Airways also come to Abuja. So, let Air Peace block that path and start a war. It’s all for the good of Nigerians.”

Keyamo, who argued that there was no reason to restrict the Nigerian airline to Gatwick, its current destination, maintained that in time, it would also be flying into Heathrow Airport, acing that the current situation was just a low-hanging fruit and a starting point for now.

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In fact, Keyamo, who spoke against the backdrop of many complaints by Allen Onyema, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline about attempts to frustrate the operation, stated that Nigeria was currently reviewing its Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with the UK and Nigeria, to address all issues, adding that some decisions would be made at the conclusion of the review.

On March 30, 2024, Air Peace reciprocated the lopsided Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom when the local airline began direct flight operations from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London.

The development has been applauded by many industry observers, with more local airlines being encouraged to commence international flights to profitable routes.

The price of an international flight ticket on the Lagos-London route was as high as N3.5 million, but with Air Peace pegging a return economy class ticket for N1.2 million, foreign airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways have been forced to slash their prices to stay competitive.

The entrance of Air Peace on the London route has sparked a price war, with foreign carriers now underpricing to stay in business. On this, Keyamo said the government has been observing the unfolding events and would support Air Peace with all federal might.

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No fewer than 10 brand new aircrafts have been ordered by the Akwa Ibom State Government, owners of Ibom Air, one of the operators on the Nigerian domestic air business, in what Umo Eno, Governor of the state, said was an effort to expand its operations.

Eno, who was a guest of Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, was speaking on the efforts the government was making to improve and expand the operations of the entity, the only state-owned airline in the country.

The governor, who said the first batch of the order had since arrived and would soon resume operation after passing all the checks by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), explained that the state was not yet looking at drawing money from the airline but rather reinvesting all profits to expand the airline, he added: “You have to know that Ibom Air keeps expanding. So, for the government, we are not setting up right now to begin to earn naira and kobo. When we make profit, we will put the profit back to keep expanding operations.”

Against the backdrop of an incident involving one of the planes belonging to the airline in Lagos at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos on Thursday, the governor maintained that safety had remained the major priority of the airline, adding that none of its planes was allowed to take off without comprehensive safety checks carried out.

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In a post on his X account, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Joe Abah, had narrated how a ground engineer saved travellers including himself on an Abuja-bound Ibom Air flight from a “potential disaster.”

Abah, who had narrated how the aircraft was already taxiing before a loud knock from outside by the ground engineer forced the pilot to halt the aircraft, said the ground engineer told the pilot that he could not leave because his landing gear was bad.

But Eno, in a quick riposte, said: “For us in Ibom Air, we do all our checks before the aircraft departs and all of the approvals are always done. So, what you are talking about right now (the Lagos incident), I think it is as a result of the checks they did.

“I don’t have the full details but we will not (allow) the departure of any aircraft if we don’t follow all of the procedures. All the engineers and everyone sign off before the aircraft departs.”

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The controversy surrounding the alleged pillaging of a whopping N107billion, raised by Alex Otti against Okezie Ikpeazu, his predecessor, took a new turn on Thursday, with stakeholders in Nigeria’s civil society wading into the matter with a demand for all the documents relating to it.

Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFR&PA), a Pro-democracy, human rights, anti-corruption and public interest advocacy group, in a letter to the governor, who made the mind-boggling revelation, particularly demanded access to the Forensic Audit Report (FAR), detailing the particulars of the said fraud.

The letter, which came under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, also copied to Kenneth Kalu, Secretary to State Government (SSG) and Ikechukwu Uwanna, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, was signed by Ukpai Ukairo, Member, Board of Trustees, of the group.

Entitled: Application for access to records under the section 1 and 3 of the Freedom of Information Act, the letter dated 23-04-2024, which the group indicated was received, stamped the next day, read: “We respectfully apply for access to the following records, to wit: A copy of the Forensic Audit Report which Governor Alex Otti, the Executive Governor of Abia State referred to and relied upon in his Town Hall Meeting in the United States of America to allege that His Excellency, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration paid billions of Naira for an airport and to un-named contractors,

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“The Letter of appointment of the Audit Firm that carried out the Forensic Audit as required under the Public Procurement Act, The voucher/s showing the payments made to the Audit firm for its professional services, The extract of the minutes of Executive Council Meeting adopting the said Forensic Audit Report.”

Relying on the stipulation of the law, allowing for one week for the documents to be provided, the group, added: “Please, permit us to remind you, that you have seven days, under the Freedom of Information Act, to release the above records to us. Accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

Otti, had Friday, April 19, 2024, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, in the United States of America told his audience comprising indigenes of the state, residing in the US: “Talking about corruption, I had set up a forensic audit as soon as I took over office in Abia, last year (2023). So that there won’t be any argument, I called in one of the top three audit firms in the world, and not too long ago, they turned in their report, and some of the things in their report are frightening.

“So, some N9.3 billion was paid to seven contractors for contracts that were not executed at all up till today. Another N15.9 billion (N16 billion) was paid to 63 contractors with no supporting documents anywhere in the state. Another N12 billion was paid to two contractors for contracts that do not exist, out of this figure N10 billion was on September 25, 2020, paid to a contractor for the construction of the Abia State Airport.

“We have spent time trying to locate the airport and up till now have not been able to locate it… So, as we continue to look for our airport, we have also told the security agencies to help us search. When you juxtapose that with pensions that were lying unpaid for about 10 years and the salary arrears, just one of these headings, the N10 billion that was spent to build a non-existent airport, was exactly the amount of money our government used to take off the pension arrears.”

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