How Hadi Sirika allegedly gave Nigeria Air contract to his friend - Witness

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, heard from a crime investigator on Wednesday that former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika allegedly pushed his friend to be involved in a failed Nigeria Air contract in 2023.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator Christopher Odofin made this statement while testifying as the 12th prosecution witness in Mr Sirika’s corruption trial.

Mr Sirika is facing charges alongside two family members and a company concerning six corruption charges. These charges are linked to an alleged N1.3 billion contract awarded in 2023 by the aviation ministry to Gabriel Tilmann, a professor.

The EFCC claimed that Mr Sirika improperly awarded the consultancy services contract for the troubled Nigeria Air national carrier to Mr Tilmann's firm, which the prosecution called a friend of the former minister.

Just days before President Muhammadu Buhari handed over power in May 2023, his administration launched the national carrier, but it later turned out to be a sham.

Mr Sirika allegedly disguised an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft as Nigeria’s national carrier. Mr Odofin had previously stated this during his testimony, which began over a year ago on 30 June 2025.

On Wednesday, the witness answered questions during cross-examination by defence lawyer Kanu Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The questions focused on the appropriateness of the contract given to Mr Tilmann.

The inquiry included a voice note believed to belong to Mr Sirika. When this voice note was played in court in July, it revealed Mr Sirika instructing another person, thought to be the then-Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Enitan Abel, to award a contract to Mr Tilmann.

“Do the right thing. Generate the necessary contract and give it to his company. In that way, we can be paying for his services,” the voice note stated.

It continued, “Whatever we can get, he’s quite resourceful and very energetic…So he has what it takes.”

Referring to the voice note on Wednesday, Mr Agabi asked Mr Odofin if an “energetic person” was not suitable for the job. The witness responded that Mr Sirika pushed his friend onto the ministry.

“The man was imposed by the first defendant (Mr Sirika) on the ministry,” Mr Odofin said.

In response to another question from Mr Agabi, the witness mentioned that Mr Tilmann was not questioned by the EFCC because he was outside the country during investigations.

“We made an effort to reach him to no avail,” the witness stated. He insisted that due process was not followed in awarding the contract to Mr Tilmann.

But he added that the former minister only followed due process “after the contract had been awarded.” Mr Agabi expressed surprise at this testimony and requested the trial judge, Slyvanus Oriji, to adjourn the proceedings.

With no objection from EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Jacob, also a SAN, the judge postponed the matter until Thursday.

The EFCC is prosecuting Mr Sirika along with his daughter, Fatima Sirika, her husband, Jalal Hamma, and their firm, Al Buraq Global Investment, on six counts. These counts include a N1.5 billion contract fraud and N1.3 billion in proceeds of gratification.

The prosecution accused Fatima, who works at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, and her husband, Mr Hamma, a staff member of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, of having “indirectly private interests in the contract for the Apron Extension at the Katsina Airport” worth almost N1.5 billion.

One count accused the former minister of “criminal breach of trust by being dishonestly connected with the illegal award” of the Katsina Airport contract for the benefit of his daughter and son-in-law’s company, Al Buraq Global Investment Ltd.

The EFCC charged them with possession of N1.3 billion allegedly traced to Mr Sirika as “proceeds of criminal conducts” in the form of gratification.

Another count related to the contract awarded to Mr Tilmann accused Mr Sirika of giving an unfair advantage to Mr Tilmann’s Tianaero Nigeria Limited by using his position as aviation minister to award a consultancy contract for the Nigerian Air start-up worth N1.3 billion. Mr Sirika allegedly did this between April 2022 and March 2023.

Another count accused the former aviation minister of being dishonestly connected to the “illegal” award of the N1.3 billion consultancy contract for the Nigerian Air Start-up to Mr Tilmann’s company, Tianaero Nigeria Limited.

The defendants have denied all six charges. So far, the prosecution has called 12 witnesses.

Since Mr Odofin, the 12th witness, began testifying on 30 June 2025, he has provided detailed information on the failed Nigerian Air national carrier and the contract awarded to Mr Tilmann.

He said Mr Sirika allegedly disguised an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft as Nigeria’s national carrier during the Buhari administration. He testified that the aircraft was loaned to Nigeria for just three days, from 27 to 29 May 2023, and was flown back to Ethiopia right after being presented as Nigeria Air.

In May 2023, then-aviation minister Mr Sirika promised Nigeria Air would start operations before his term ended, and he made this promise only three days before leaving office.

The unveiling raised many concerns. In June 2023, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) rejected Nigeria Air's application for certification to enter “phase two” in obtaining an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).

According to the NCAA’s rejection letter, there was no proper preparation for the airline’s operations.

Also, earlier in 2022, the former minister revealed that Ethiopian Airlines became a core investor in Nigeria Air with a 49 percent shareholding.

This news did not please local airline operators, who felt they could run Nigeria Air better than a foreign company.

During the unveiling, only one aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines was shown at the event.

In June this year, the witness testified that Mr Sirika split the Nigeria Air-related contracts to avoid the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the contract approval process.