Ethiopian Airlines has claimed a payment of $211,000 by Nigeria Air for breaching contract terms to establish a joint venture (JV) airline.

CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines Mesfin Tassew Thursday informed Nigeria’s economic Commission and Financial Crimes (EFCC) that the country’s Ministry of Aviation owes the airline $211,000 for breaching contract terms related to the failed Nigeria Air joint venture.

The EFCC is investigating the alleged misappropriation of 2.7 billion Naira allocated to the project. Tasew and other Ethiopian Airlines officials were interviewed as part of the investigation. They explained that the terms of the partnership, established during former Nigerian aviation minister Hadi Sirika’s tenure, were not upheld.

The new Nigerian aviation minister, Festus Keyamo, has suspended the Nigeria Air project indefinitely.

Keyamo stated that it was “just Ethiopian Airlines trying to fly the Nigerian flag” rather than a genuine Nigerian project.

An unnamed EFCC official was cited as saying that “some officials of Ethiopian Airlines were in the country.

”We briefed them, and they explained the details of the Nigeria Air project. They confirmed that the implementation of the agreement was faulty because the Ministry of Aviation did not keep to the terms. They also said the ministry owed the airline about $211,000″ said the source.

As ch-aviation previously reported, Ethiopian Airlines claims to have acquired three B737-8s for Nigeria Air, which it has since deployed with its other partner carriers, including ASKY Airline (KP, Lome).

Nigeria Air was initiated under Sirika and former President Muhammadu Buhari to establish a national carrier in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines leading a consortium of Nigerian investors.

Legal challenges from Nigerian private carriers and a change in government led to the project’s collapse. APA