In a letter on
Monday, Sam Iwu, the company’s chief executive officer, apologised over the
controversial incident that led to the company being suspended.
Naira Marley
performed at the Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja at the weekend amid measures by
Nigerian government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The singer became
the subject of criticisms among Nigerians, especially on social media, after
clips of his performance went viral.
The federal capital
territory administration (FCTA) in its reactolion sealed off the Jabi Lake mall
for violating Covid-19 restriction orders.
Speaking during the
briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Hadi Sirika, Nigeria’s
minister for aviation, said the Executive Jets flight that conveyed Naira
Marley for the concert was approved for a different purpose.
He announced the
indefinite suspension of the company and the flight captain for providing false
information.
Aviation Company reacts
Mr Iwu in his
statement claimed that the flight was approved to convey a judge to Abuja,
adding that the passenger had however found his way to Abuja with the via
another flight.
He explained that
the company later got an offer to convey another set of passengers to Abuja.
The new development, he said, caused confusion as the name “Fashola Babatunde”
appeared in the letter.
Mr Iwu claimed he
thought it was the minister of works and housing but they turned out to be “a
bunch of useless people”.
The letter reads in part:
“Please the flight was to carry a Judge to Abuja on Sunday 14th, 2020 as
requested and permit was granted based on the application, but unfortunately
when I called the Judge on Saturday morning to inform him that we have the
permit, he then said that he has reached Abuja already with a different flight
that someone gave him a lift to Abuja.
“So on Saturday
morning 13th June, 2020 my staff called me that they have a charter flight to
Abuja and that the passengers are already in the lounge as a rule passenger
manifest is always sent to me before any departure, when I went through the
manifest and I saw FASHOLA BABATUNDE I thought it was the Honorable Minister of
Works going to Abuja with his men, so we decided to do the flight since (he) is
a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I didn’t know that it
was a bunch of useless people.”
The company
apologised over the incident and vowed that it won’t make such mistakes again.
“We are very sorry
for this mistake and we promise that this would not happen again,” Mr Iwu said.
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