In an ongoing legal wrangle to prevent the establishment of Nigeria Air (Lagos), the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have reminded the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) of an existing court injunction temporarily restraining the regulator from issuing an air operator's certificate (AOC) to the federal government's new flag carrier joint venture with a consortium led by Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International).
According to numerous Nigerian news reports, AON's counsel, Burreini Jimoh, on April 19 sent a letter titled "Notification of Court Orders" to NCAA Director-General Musa Nuhu, cautioning him to desist from dealing with Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika, the Federal Ministry of Aviation "and/or their agents, privies or representatives", about Nigeria Air's AOC "to avoid consequences of disobedience of court orders".
“As a law-abiding regulatory agency, you are under the watchful eyes of the world, and it is in your interest to desist from any further action on the AOC process that will ridicule the integrity of the agency before the local media as well as the global aviation community,” he warned.
In November 2022, the Nigerian Federal High Court in Lagos granted the AON an interim injunction order that prevents Sirika, the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Nigerian Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, and other defendants from continuing with the launch of the new national carrier.
It followed a court application filed on November 11 by the registered trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), including Azman Air, Air Peace, MaxAir (Nigeria), TopBrass Aviation and United Nigeria Airlines to have Nigeria Air's Air Transport License (ATL) revoked on the grounds that the carrier would be anti-competitive and damaging to domestic airlines.
In the meantime, the defendants have applied for the case to be transferred to the capital Abuja, a matter the Federal High Court in Abuja was scheduled to decide on April 25.
