Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah has threatened to drag the management of Arik Airline to court over allegation that she demanded 5 per cent equity from the holding from the airline.<\/p>\n
The Minister in a Press Statement signed by Mr. Joe Obi, Special Adviser, Media to the Minister and made available to Pointblanknews.com said the allegations are not just laughable but malicious and false.<\/p>\n
The statement said Lawyers to the Minister are currently studying the allegations and will head to the court soon to seek redress.<\/p>\n
Arik\u00a0 Airline suspended all its domestic operations and Aniete Okon, the company\u2019s vice chairman had blamed the Aviation Ministry and Aviation Minister Stella Oduah for trying to stop the airline from flying.<\/p>\n
Okon also implied Oduah had a financial interest in seeing the airline fail, but declined to elaborate.
\u201cIf it continues unchecked, there will be no future for the aviation industry in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Minister\u2019s Press Statement reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attention of the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, OON, has been drawn to a fabrication credited to the Management of Arik Airlines, to the effect that the Minister demanded a 5 percent equity holding in the airline. The story alleged a Ministry of Aviation hostility against Arik on account of the so-called equity demand that it claimed to have turned down!<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first impulse is to totally ignore this groundless falsehood. Except that it will send the wrong signals to the general public. Therefore, the sole intent of this release is to put the records straight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 5 percent equity story is without any foundation whatsoever. It is absurd, malicious and ultimately laughable. The Honorable Minister of Aviation could not have contemplated acquiring a stake in any airline, let alone Arik Air that is groaning from a crippling N85.4 billion-debt overhang.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe time is ripe for Arik Air to change its business module that \u2018thrives\u2019 on unprecedented accumulation of debts and liabilities. The futile attempt to impugn the integrity of the Aviation Minister by inferring a conflict of interest against her is at best diversionary. It should be obvious to the management of Arik Air that blackmail is not a panacea for a floundering enterprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Honourable Minister of Aviation has directed her lawyers to seek legal redress for this malicious allegation by Arik Air.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah has threatened to drag the management of Arik Airline to court over allegation that she demanded 5 per cent equity from the holding from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n