The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation had promised to look into the complaints by airline operators and other stakeholders on the handling of the N5 billion COVID-19 aviation palliative.
The Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji made the promise and said in a statement that the avalanche of concerns raised by stakeholders regarding the matter were too weighty to be ignored.
He disclosed that the House Committee on Aviation has resolved to demand from the Ministry of Aviation the detailed disbursement of the intervention fund.
He said the essence of getting the details of the disbursement was not to witch hunt anybody but to clear every doubt over the matter.
“We want to know the detailed disbursements, airline by airline, the parastatals under the Ministry and other organisations”, he said.
The Chairman noted that the committee was quite aware of the challenges facing the industry due to the COVID-19 impact and the genuine concerns expressed by the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika on the need for the federal government to give palliative to the industry.
He also remarked that some airline operators had complained that despite being asked to submit their details, which they did, but they did not benefit from the disbursement.
They also alleged that the Ministry was doing selective disbursements and that the exercise lacked transparency and urged the committee to investigate it.
Nnaji assured that though the House had already adjourned for Easter holidays, the committee would cut short its break to look into the matter because of the critical role of aviation in the overall economy of the country.
