Chinedu Eze
Former owners of Nigeriaâs major carrier, Arik Air, have taken issue with Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over the circumstances that led to the takeover of the airline on February 9, 2017.
The Vice-Chairman of the former management of the airline, Senator Anietie Okon, told THISDAY in an exclusive interview that the airline was in full operation with 69 scheduled flights on the day it was taken over.
He was reacting to the claim by AMCON that the airlineâs services were disrupted due to paucity of operational funds when it was put under receivership.
Okon said as at the takeover period, Arik Air had about 3,200 Nigerian staff, adding that the airline under AMCON now has fewer than 600 personnel as labour crisis brews occasionally due to the inability of the new managers to pay workers regularly.
Airfares across Nigeria have increased by as much as 100%, recent checks by Nairametrics confirms. Ticket fares to cities like Port Harcourt, Ilorin, and northern states like Kebbi, Borno, Adamawa and Kano have increased by as much as 100% in the last one month.
Business and student travellers who spoke to Nairametrics about their experience expressed shock and resentment about the rising cost of airfare in Nigeria especially as travelling by road continues to be risky due to the activities of bandits and kidnappers.
One of them, Olaoluwa Owoeye, told Nairametrics that he was shocked when he observed that the airfare from Lagos to Port Harcourt had gone up by over 100%, from N26,000 to N60,000 (Air Peace) and that flights to the city were fully booked until April 12, 2021.
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The reactions to the Easter homilies of
Tunde Bakare, overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, and Matthew Kukah, bishop of Sokoto Catholic diocese, by the presidency dominated the headlines of Nigerian newspapers. The meeting of Olusegun Obasanjo, former president, and Ahmad Gumi, Islamic cleric, also made the headlines.
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The state of the nation homilies by Bakare and Kukah at Easter was the major headline of The Punch. The newspaper’s cover picture shows cows grazing on a maize farm in Abuja.
Daily Independent says naira depreciation and high interest rate have added to the cost of servicing Nigeria’s external debts. The newspaper reports that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) exposed the risky operations of Azman Air.
NCAA had in March suspended the activities of Azman Air because of safety concerns.
Daily Trust learnt Sunday that the Airline has fired its Head of Maintenance as part of its action plan aimed at implementing the findings of the NCAA audit team.
A copy of the audit report sighted by our correspondent on Sunday indicated that the airline, which was suspended on 15th March 2021 over serial safety infractions was in violation of many provisions of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) prior to its suspension.
The audit covered Management, Flight Operations, Maintenance and Economic audit premised on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations Nig.CARs Part 9, NCARs Parts 1, 2, 5, 6, 8,9 & 20 and Nigeria Civil Aviation Act 2006 NCARs Part 18.