The Federal High Court in Lagos declared the sale of Nigeria Air Ltd to Ethiopian Airlines invalid on Monday.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa delivered the judgment, halting the establishment of Nigeria Air, the proposed national carrier by the Federal Government. This decision came as he granted the requests made by the plaintiffs, which included the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and five other entities in the aviation sector.
In his ruling, Justice Lewis-Allagoa agreed to all the plaintiffs’ demands, except for the one asking for ₦2 billion in damages. The plaintiffs claimed these damages were due to their wrongful exclusion from the bidding process and other alleged unlawful actions.
The plaintiffs in the case included the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators, Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, and Topbrass Aviation Limited. They filed the suit against Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, former Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The plaintiffs requested the court to cancel the entire bidding and selection process for the Nigeria Air project. They also sought to overturn the approval given to Ethiopian Airlines by the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and the former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
The court’s decision to stop the sale of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines was a significant victory for the plaintiffs, though they did not receive the financial compensation they sought.
