The long hope for the take off of the much talk about national carrier, the Nigeria Air has again suffered another set back as the federal High Court sitting in Lagos has prevented the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) from issuing Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), to the airline.
The news broke out after Honourable Justice A.Lewis Allagoa granted orders of interim and interlocutory injunctions in the terms contained in the order, restraining taking of any step in relations to the Nigeria Air project.
A letter dated 19th April, 2023 to notify the NCAA of the restraining order by the plaintiff’s lawyer Abubakar Nuhu Ahmed, Esq. of Nureini Jimoh (SAN) Chambers declared: “You are therefore notified to desist from dealing with the Minister/the Ministry of Aviation and/ or their agents, privies or representatives, pertaining the Air Operator Certificate (AOC), subject matter of the suit, to avoid consequences of disobedience of court orders.
“As a law abiding Regulatory Agency, you are under the watchful eyes of the world and it is in your interest to desist from any further action on AOC process that will ridicule the integrity of the Agency before the local media as well as the Global Aviation Community”.
The minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had at different fora expressed the optimism that the new national carrier will commence operations before May 29 when the present government will exit the stage.