Nigeria Air: Sagay warns aviation ministry against use of Boeing 737 planes, says ‘it’s risky’

Itse Sagay, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the federal government should not use Boeing Max planes for Nigeria’s official carrier  — Nigeria Air — because of its history of deadly crashes.

Speaking with TheCable on Monday, Sagay, former chairman of the presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC), said Hadi Sirika, the immediate past aviation minister, made arrangements with Ethiopian Airlines to use Boeing 737 Max planes for the Air Nigeria project.

He said he spoke with Keyamo who also confirmed that Sirika agreed with Ethiopian Airlines to use Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which has been grounded in many countries, for Nigeria Air.

“I want to express my views on the issue of Air Nigeria which was started by the immediate past aviation minister, Hadi Sirika. The matter is now hanging on the desk of Festus Keyamo, the current aviation minister”.

“From what I read on the internet, Sirika arranged with Ethiopian Airlines that the planes that will service Air Nigeria Boeing 737 Max which has been having crashes. He made plans with them to deploy the aircraft which Ethiopian Airlines had plenty of to Nigeria to be used for Air Nigeria”.

“I expressed my alarm about it to Festus Keyamo and he confirmed it.

“I want to use this opportunity to express my views to the general public that the Ministry of Aviation should not be allowed to import the Boeing 737 Max to this country because there is no evidence that anything has been done to rectify the problems.

“Presently, if you check Boeing, hardly any day goes by without any incidents with Boeing 737.

“It was grounded worldwide between 2019 and 2020 after deadly crashes. I remember the Ethiopian Airlines and the one in Alaska. There are others in the US itself that are experiencing problems too.

“We should not allow any airline to be established in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to come with deadly airplanes that will further endanger the lives of Nigerians who are suffering presently from armed robbery, kidnapping and hardship occasioned by high prices.

“We can’t add the danger of flying an aircraft that you are not sure of arriving at your destination to it.

“I am also calling on the aviation minister, Festus Keyamo to go and look at other reliable aircraft, maybe like Airbus that has a consistent history of safety and comfort.

“We can’t risk using Boeing whose records keep getting worse and worse and they are always going to the drawing board to go and correct things. They are trying to produce aircraft cheaply without going through the necessary procedures.”

Keyamo had announced the suspension of the Nigeria Air project on August 2023.

He said the project was suspended because Nigerians, and government agencies “raised red flags” about it.

The national carrier is a major project under the aviation roadmap implemented by the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.