The Federal Government has removed the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) from investors list for the nation’s national carrier,the Nigerian Air.
James Odaudu, Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to the Minister of Aviation, in a statement,admitted that it included the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as one of the investors in the nation’s national carrier, in great error.
He noted that the NSIA was not mentioned in Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika’s presentation, but only in the general brief given to the media, stressing that it was an error made during its preparation.
According to him,the equity ownership structure of Nigeria Air stands as : Ethiopian Airlines 49%, Nigerian private investors (SAHCO, MRS and other institutional investors) 46% and the Federal Government 5%.
The statement titled, ‘Error of Inclusion of NSIA as an Investor in Nigeria Air’ reads:
Error of Inclusion of NSIA as an Investor in Nigeria Air.
“Our attention has been drawn to the inadvertent inclusion of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as part of the private investors in the Nigeria Air project. We wish to clarify that the Authority is not involved, in any way, as part of the private equity ownership of the airline, being a government establishment.
“It should be noted that the NSIA was not mentioned in Honourable Minister’s presentation, but only in the general brief given to the media, an error made during its preparation.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the equity ownership structure of Nigeria Air stands as : Ethiopian Airlines 49%, Nigerian private investors (SAHCO, MRS and other institutional investors) 46% and the Federal Government 5%.The public, especially the business community and the media should please take note”.
