The staff of Air Nigeria will take to the streets tomorrow, September 7, to protest the “wicked acts” of their proprietor, Jimoh Ibrahim.
The staff of Air Nigeria will take to the streets tomorrow, September 7, to protest the “wicked acts” of their proprietor, Jimoh Ibrahim.
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Yesterday, Mr. Ibrahim abruptly shut down the airline for one year, with effect from Monday September 10, and terminated the employment of 550 members of his staff, leaving behind 50 "loyal" staff members.
He said his actions arose from “staff disloyalty and environmental tension”, which is not “conducive for business in the aviation sector.”
In a statement, the staff of the airline pointed out that Mr. Ibrahim cannot unilaterally sack all the staff on the pages of newspapers without following due process as contained in their employment contracts.
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They also noted that:
• Air Nigeria is owing the staff four months of unpaid salaries;
• Mr. Ibrahim has not been remitting pensions deducted monthly from staff salaries to the PFAs;
• Mr. Ibrahim has not remitted taxes collected from them to the authorities; and
• Air Nigeria is owing the Air Nigeria Cooperative Society N56 million in members' personal savings.
The statement also said of Mr. Ibrahim’s announcement: “No plans [have been] put in place for all our passengers who have bought tickets to London who will be flying into and out of London from 10th September onward. He wickedly wants to get them stranded without alternative plans or refunds.”
Tomorrow’s peaceful protest will start at 8a.m., and the workers plan to process from MM2, Lagos, to the office of the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.
Mr. Ibrahim has had a torrid business record lately. One year ago, he acquired majority ownership of Newswatch magazine, but after failing to put in the funds required to turn the company around, he unilaterally suspended publication and relocated the magazine’s editorial offices to Lagos Island. That action is being challenged in court by the original owners and directors of the company.
In June this year, a former Executive Director for Finance at Air Nigeria, John Nnorom, urged Nigerians to stop flying the airline because its aircraft were not being properly maintained, calling it a “flying coffin.”
He also accused Mr. Ibrahim of a variety of business malpractices including tax evasion, forgery, and diversion of government funds.
On June 20th, the Federal Inland Revenue Service filed a 10-count charge of tax evasion of about N4.86 billion Naira and forgery of Tax Clearance Certificates against Air Nigeria. Mr. Ibrahim; Mr. Kinfe Kahssaye, Air Nigeria’s Managing Director; as well as Air Nigeria Development Company Limited (formerly Virgin Nigeria Airways Ltd), were joined in the suit.
Last month, on August 10, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission questioned Mr. Ibrahim for several hours on allegations of money laundering. It was also understood he was interrogated about certain questionable business transactions in Nigeria that enabled him to amass millions of dollars with which he established Energy Bank in Ghana and Sao Tome and purchased a Challenger 605 jet in 2009.
Three years ago, the federal government awarded Mr. Ibrahim the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR).
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