….. minister says, there is no law stopping anyone for establishing a company
The proposed national carrier process maybe stalled with the recent court injunction as issued today by Hon Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi for all parties in the project to stay action.
Five domestic airlines, Air Peace, Max Air, Topbrass, United Nigeria and Azman air had gone to the Federal High court to seek an injunction on the project and an interim injunction was granted.
“The Court after careful consideration of the application and submission of counsel, it is hereby ordered as follows:
1.That an Order of Interim Injunction is granted restraining the Defendants either by themselves, agents, privies, Principals or any other persons whosoever from draft the proposed executing “NATIONAL CARRIER ESTABLISHMENT AND AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA (represented by the 3rd and 4th Defendants) and the strategic equity partner (the 2nd Defendant) or giving effect to and or suspending the sale and transfer of the shares & operations of the 1stDefendant by the 2nd Defendant pending the determination of the Motion on Notice”.
“That an Order of Maintenance of Status Quo by all parties in this suit from taking any further step(s) in relation to the subject matter of this suit pending the determination of the Motion on Notice is granted”.
Before the judgment was given, the minister of aviation had in a stakeholders meeting at the Lagos airport disclosed that, he was not aware that some aggrieved individuals or operators had gone to court to stop the process.
“I am not aware of that anyone is in court. I don’t have any court paper, otherwise. I cannot see any rational court that will say that I am stopping somebody from establishing a company because Nigeria Air is a limited liability company known to the Nigerian laws in the corporate affairs commission.
He however noted that, “If anybody wants to come and invest in that company, there is no law in Nigeria that stops him from doing so. If there are foreigners coming to invest, nobody stops them from investing. You can own a company 100 percent. What would you say to Shell, Unilever, Julius Berger? There are companies in Nigeria registered by Nigerian law and people are coming to invest. This is what we want. We want Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). If people or Nigerians are investing in the airline of $200 million into Nigeria and so what? We want more of them”.
