Pat Stevens/
A key witness in the ongoing N2 billion Nigeria Air fraud trial has told a court in Abuja that former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, allegedly used a chartered Ethiopian Airlines aircraft painted in Nigeria Air colours to create the impression that the national carrier had been launched, just days before the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The witness, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the aircraft was brought to Abuja for a brief public display in May 2023 and returned to Ethiopia less than 72 hours later after being showcased as Nigeria Air.
Testifying before Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Wednesday, the prosecution’s 12th witness, Christopher Odofin, said documents obtained during the EFCC investigation showed that the aircraft displayed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, was owned by Ethiopian Airlines and was chartered solely for the event.
According to the witness, the aircraft departed Addis Ababa on the evening of May 26, 2023, arrived in Abuja on May 27 and remained on the tarmac until May 28 for what was described in the agreement as a display of Nigeria Air branding.
It was flown back to Ethiopia on the morning of May 29, 2023, the day President Muhammadu Buhari handed over power to his successor.
Reading from the charter agreement in court, Odofin said the aircraft was to be operated by Ethiopian Airlines crew dressed in Ethiopian Airlines uniforms, while local models could be dressed in Nigeria Air uniforms and used for ceremonial photographs.
“The aircraft will stay in Abuja airport for static display of Nigeria Air livery until May 28, 2023,” the witness quoted from the agreement.
Odofin told the court that investigators concluded the arrangement was deliberately timed to coincide with the end of Sirika’s tenure as minister and to create the impression that the long-promised national carrier had become operational.
He further testified that after the display, the Nigeria Air branding was removed and the aircraft returned to Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa.
The witness said the EFCC also established that Ethiopian Airlines entered into the charter arrangement on May 24, 2023, just five days before Sirika left office, and that the agreement was only for the temporary display of Nigeria Air branding on the aircraft.
Sirika is standing trial alongside his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika, his son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule, and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited on charges bordering on alleged abuse of office and the diversion of more than N2 billion in public funds linked to the Nigeria Air project.
The court also heard that the contract for the establishment of Nigeria Air was awarded on April 4, 2022, to Tianaero Nigeria Limited, a company linked to Gabriel Tilmann, whom the witness described as a close associate of the former minister.
Odofin said the original contract, valued at more than N299 million, was later extended, raising its value to over N599 million.
According to the witness, investigators reached that conclusion after analysing the mobile phone of a former Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Enitan Muyiwa Abel.
He alleged that a voice note recovered from the phone showed Sirika, while in Spain, directing the Permanent Secretary to ensure that the contract was awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited.
Several documents tendered by the prosecution were admitted without objection from defence lawyers.
Among them was a compact disc containing an alleged voice note by Sirika, marked as Exhibit 37, which prosecutors said would be played in court at the next hearing.
Justice Oriji adjourned the matter until June 17, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
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