- The PDP described the Nigeria Air project as fraud
- The party called for the arrest of Hadi Sirika
- It alleged that the failed project has been used to siphon state fund
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lashed out the minister of state for aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, over the federal government’s suspension of the country’s carrier, Nigeria Air.
The Punch reports that the party called for Sirika’s arrest and prosecution for allegedly defrauding the nation of N1.2 billion.
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The party also called on the president to address the alleged corruption in his administration.
In a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan who is the spokesperson of the PDP, the party said it had warned that the project was a scam.
He said: “The PDP had in July alerted the nation that the unveiling of a non-existent national carrier was a huge scam designed to create an impression of achievement, as well as a conduit by corrupt All Progressives Congress leaders and the Buhari Presidency to siphon public funds for selfish purposes.
“Nigerians now know that the reason for the rush to London to ‘unveil’ mere drawings of airplanes, name, logo and imaginary routes of a non-existent fleet as our national carrier, without any structures, operational license, clear partnership agreements and no form of ground activity anywhere in our country.
“What the APC and the Buhari Presidency fail to understand is that lies, no matter how ornamented, always have their expiry dates.
“The truth may be suppressed for a while, but it always has a way of coming to light.
“It is now clear to the world that the Buhari administration is corrupt and lacks the capacity to productively engage against acts of corruption.
This is the major reason our economy went into a recession and foreign investors have lost confidence in our nation.”
Recall that Nigeria's minister of state for aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Wednesday, July 17, unveiled the name and logo of the nation's new national carrier, Nigeria Air.
In reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday, July 20, accused the federal government of unveiling a non-existent national carrier in a desperate effort to deceive Nigerians now that election is around the corner.
The Punch reports that the national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it was not funny that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari was merely unveiling logos and drawings of an airplane and imaginary routes, without a proper project.
He said: “Is it not comical that while other nations are unveiling and rolling out real planes, the Buhari administration, in a most hilarious manner, is ‘unveiling’ drawings of an airplane, name, logo and imaginary routes of a nonexistent fleet, as our national carrier, in faraway London?
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“What President Buhari and his handlers fail to understand is that Nigerians can see through their fraud and lies.
“Apart from drawings of airplanes, there are no structures to indicate that a new airline, billed to commence operation in December this year, is being set up; there are no offices, no recruitment of personnel and no form of ground activity anywhere in the country."
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Source: Naija.ng