How ex-minister Hadi Sirika secured ‘Nigeria Air’ contract for his friend

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 imposed his friend on the ministry to be engaged for a failed Nigeria Air-related contract in 2023.

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator Christopher Odofin said this in his testimony as the 12th prosecution witness in Mr Sirika’s corruption trial.

Mr Sirika is facing prosecution alongside two family members and a firm on six corruption charges that partly centre on an alleged N1.3 billion contract the aviation ministry awarded in 2023 to Gabriel Tilmann, a professor.

EFCC alleged that Mr Sirika corruptly awarded the consultancy services contract for the start-up of the failed Nigeria Air national carrier to a firm belonging to Mr Tilmann, whom the prosecution described as the former minister’s friend.

The then-outgoing administration of President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the national carrier days before handover in May 2023, only for the public show to be later found to be a ruse.

Mr Sirika allegedly disguised an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft as Nigeria’s national carrier, Mr Odofin previously said in his testimony which he started over a year ago on 30 June 2025.

On Wednesday, the witness fielded questions during cross-examination by defence lawyer Kanu Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), which centred on the propriety of the contract awarded to Mr Tilmann.

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The questioning touched on a voice note which the prosecution believed belonged to Mr Sirika.

When it was played in court in July, the voice note, ascribed to Mr Sirika, was heard instructing another person the EFCC believed 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 was heard saying.

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

Referencing the voice note on Wednesday, Mr Agabi asked Mr Odofin if an “energetic person” was not fit for the job.

The witness insisted that Mr Sirika imposed his friend on the ministry.

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

Responding to another question from Mr Agabi, the witness said Mr Tilmann was not questioned by the EFCC because he was not in the country during investigations.

“We made an effort to reach him to no avail,” the witness said.

He maintained that due process was not followed in awarding the contract to Mr Tilmaan.

But he added that the former minister only followed due process “after the contract had been awarded.”

Mr Agabi expressed surprise at the line of testimony and asked the trial judge, Slyvanus Oriji, for an adjournment of the proceedings.

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

Charges

The EFCC is prosecuting Mr Sirika, alongside his daughter, Fatima Sirika, her husband, Jalal Hamma, and the couple’s firm, Al Buraq Global Investment, on six counts, including a N1.5 billion contract fraud and N1.3 billion gratification proceeds.

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 holding “indirectly private interests in the contract for the Apron Extension at the Katsina Airport” for 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 contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the benefit of his daughter and son-in-law’s company, Al Buraq Global Investment Ltd.

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

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

Yet 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 denied all six charges.

The prosecution case so far

The prosecution has called 12 prosecution witnesses so far.

Since Mr Odofin, the 12th prosecution witness, started taking the stand on 30 June 2025, he has testified extensively on the botched Nigerian Air national carrier and the contract awarded to Mr Tilmann.

READ ALSO: How ex-minister Hadi Sirika disguised Ethiopian Airlines aircraft as Nigeria Air’s – Witness

He said Mr Sirika allegedly disguised an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft as Nigeria’s national carrier during the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He testified that the aircraft was loaned to Nigeria for just three days, from 27 to 29 May 2023. He testified that the plane was flown back to Ethiopia immediately after being passed off as a Nigeria Air national carrier.

In May 2023, then-aviation minister Mr Sirika promised that Nigeria Air would commence operations before he left office; a promise he delivered on a mere three days before his departure.

The purported unveiling was fraught with concerns. First, in June 2023, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) rejected an application from Nigeria Air seeking certification to proceed to “phase two” in the process of obtaining an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).

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

Also, the former minister had disclosed earlier in 2022 that Ethiopian Airlines emerged as a core investor in Nigeria Air with a 49 per cent shareholding.

This did not sit well with local airline operators who claimed they could manage Nigerian Air better than a foreign airline.

During the unveiling, only one aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines was unveiled at the ceremony.

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