An Abuja court heard on Wednesday that an aircraft displayed as the promised Nigeria Air was actually an Ethiopian Airlines plane, flown into the capital for a three-day show and then sent back to Addis Ababa before the handover of power. The testimony came as Hadi Abubakar Sirika’s trial on charges tied to more than ₦2 billion in alleged public fund misappropriation resumed before Justice S. C. Oriji.
The 12th prosecution witness told the Federal Capital Territory High Court that the plane was placed on the tarmac of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 27, 2023, and removed on the morning of May 29, 2023. That date mattered: the display ended on the same day Sirika left office as Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, and the witness said the timing was deliberate, meant to sell the aircraft as proof that Nigeria Air had finally arrived.
Sirika is facing amended six-count charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alongside Fatima Hadi Sirika, Hamma Jalal Sule and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited. The case centers on alleged abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds, but Wednesday’s evidence focused on how the airline itself was presented. The contract for setting up Nigeria Air had been awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited, which belongs to Gabriel Tilmann, yet the witness read from a separate agreement showing that the aircraft used for the Abuja display belonged to Ethiopian Airlines.
That contract said the plane would leave Addis Ababa late on May 26, arrive in Abuja early on May 27, stay for static display of Nigeria Air livery until May 28 and depart early on May 29. It also said the chartered flight would be operated by Ethiopian Airlines crew in Ethiopian Airlines uniform, with the Federal Government of Nigeria and Nigeria Air allowed to arrange local models in Nigeria Air uniforms for ceremonial photographs. The witness said the aircraft wore Nigeria Air markings for less than 72 hours before the logo was removed and the plane was flown back to Ethiopia.
The detail cuts against the political image that had been built around the project. The display was described in court as a staged presentation timed to match the end of Sirika’s tenure, while investigators said Ethiopian Airlines had entered a charter arrangement for a three-day static display of the Nigeria Air livery and later responded to an EFCC request dated June 12, 2023. The prosecution has not yet shown in open court how that arrangement, if proven, converts into the criminal offences alleged against Sirika and his co-defendants.
For now, the case advances on the strength of a date, a contract and a plane that never stayed long enough to become an airline. The trial resumes on June 17, 2026, when prosecutors are expected to continue testing whether the Abuja display was merely a promotional charade or evidence of something larger.
