THE Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), will know on April 25, if the decision to transfer the suit it filed challenging the process of the appointment of Ethiopian Airline as core investors and operators of proposed Nigeria Air, will proceed at the Federal High Court Abuja.
AON, the umbrella organization of airline operators in Nigeria has asked the court to interpret the law as it relates to the procedure for hiring Ethiopian Airlines’ services to operate the proposed Nigeria Air.
Hearing in the objection brought by AON to the order to transfer the matter to the Abuja division of the Federal High Court was concluded today before Justice James Omotosho, who fixed April 25 to rule on the matter.
After adopting all of the processes submitted by the AON and the defendants, including the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Ethiopian Airlines, Justice Omotosho further postponed the matter until April 25.
AON stated that the Ministry of Aviation disregarded the legally required steps of the public procurement process as outlined in the law establishing the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in contesting the selection of Ethiopian Airiness to manage the proposed Nigeria Air. .
AON added that the law required three major newspapers to run an advertisement about the proposed airline’s operator appointment. It informed the court that by placing advertisements in just two domestic publications and one publication abroad, the federal government had broken the law.
AON further argued that the law could only be broken in dire circumstances where the National Assembly could not convene to amend it, and that there is no dire circumstance surrounding the selection of an operator for Nigeria Air that would justify breaking the law.
