Again, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Aviation, has proposed to expend the sum of N1 billion on the botched national carrier project.

The government, in its 2021 Ap­propriation Bill to the National Assembly, also planned to spend N14 billion for the construction of the second runway for the Nnam­di Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.

The full budget proposal of the Ministry of Aviation, which was made available to Daily Independent, indicated that despite the silence on the national carrier project, the government still proposed N1 billion for the project.

The ribbons of the pro­posed national carrier were unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in the United King­dom on July 18, 2018.

Also, in the 2020 approved budget for the country, the ministry proposed the sum of N4.6 billion as “working capital” for the national car­rier project, but nothing was heard about the project in the outgoing year.

In the appropriation bill sent to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari recently, the ministry also proposed to pay the sum of N250,000,000 as “consultan­cy fee” for the establishment of the national carrier which has divided most stakeholders in the sector.

The government, in the 2020 budget to NASS, also proposed to pay the sum of N304 million as consultancy fee for the same national air­line project.

The ministry in the ‘type’ inquiry, said the project was “ongoing”.

With this, the government had proposed to spend N6.7 billion on the aborted na­tional carrier project in the last two years; N5.6 billion as “ongoing” sum for the project and another N554 million as “consultancy”.

Players in the sector have remained divided over the es­tablishment of a new national carrier for the country since the demise of the former car­rier, Nigeria Airways.

While a section of ana­lysts believed it was good for the image and tourism of the country, others declared that it would create an uneven working environment for ex­isting operators, arguing that most developed aviation coun­tries lacked national carriers.

Before the “temporary suspension” of the airline in October 2018, the government had scheduled the carrier to commence flight operations on December 24, 2018, with a target of 81 routes on com­mencement of operations (local, regional, and interna­tional), 15 leased aircraft as at the due date, with additional plans to own 30 planes within three to four years.

According to Sirika, the government was expected to expend $55 million on the project in 2018; 2019, $100 mil­lion, while $145 million was expected to be expended on the project in 2020. In three years, the government had planned $300 million for the airline project.

The minister also said the government would not own more than five percent of the airline, which he put at $55 million, assuring that the government would not in­terfere with the recruitment and appointment of technical persons and management of the new airline as agreed with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) guidelines, which had led to the issuance of certif­icate to the ministry weeks earlier.

According to the ministry, “This funding can be in the form of equity or debt. The fi­nancial model estimates cash flow requirements as follows: 2018 ($55 million – $8 million is included here); 2019 ($100 million) and 2020 ($145 millio).

“In order to ensure take-off of the airline in 2018, the government will provide $55 million upfront grant or via­bility gap funding to finance start-up capital and pay com­mitment fees for aircraft to be leased for initial operations and deposit for new aircraft, whose delivery will begin in 2021.

“The company’s shares will be sold through an initial public offering after, which the government will own five percent equity.

“Government’s equity share held in trust for Nige­rians will be devolved to Ni­gerians via an Initial Public Offer (IPO).

“The government will re­tain only five percent equity, the list of shareholders then will be available to the Secu­rities and Exchange Commis­sion (SEC), and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

Besides, the ministry also anticipated to spend the sum of N14 billion on the construc­tion of a second runway for Abuja airport which, it said, was “ongoing”.

Also, the ministry budget­ed the sum of N70, 287,810,809 for the rehabilitation and re­pairs of airports across the country, while additional N4, 675,000,000 was projected for “other capital projects” in the coming year.

The ministry also planned to spend N4, 675,000,000 on “ac­quisition of intangible assets” in the coming year.

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