By Chinelo Obogo
The Ministry of Aviation has said there is no preferred bidder for the proposed national carrier yet.
The Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, said that reports that the government has already chosen Qatar Airways as the preferred bidder and core investor is false and should be disregarded.
He said throughout the process leading to the publication of the Request for Proposal, the guiding principle of the government has been transparency and accountability will remain till the final delivery of the project,
“It has come to our notice that some persons with vested interests have been promoting some organisations that have bided for the forthcoming national carrier, Nigeria Air.
“For some time now, the name Qatar Airways has been coming up as the core investor of the airline in the media reports, but we wish to state that no preferred bidder has been selected for the national carrier, Nigeria Air.
“Similar reports coming just two days after the issuance of a Request For Proposal which was published in local and international news media, is not only false but capable of discrediting the process for the establishment of the airline, and discouraging interested parties.
“We wish to state that throughout the process leading to the publication of the Request for Proposal, the guiding principle has been transparency and accountability, which we promised, will remain till the final delivery of the project, and by which we stand.
“We wish to state categorically that no corporate entity or individual has been appointed or selected, or even preferred for the project as the process for selection has just started with the Request for Proposal.
“All interested partners and the public are therefore advised to discountenance the report and proceed with their proposals as we assure them of our unalloyed commitment to transparency and accountability till the end of the process.
“Our driving force is the commitment of the Buhari administration to bequeath to the country a national carrier that Nigerians would be proud of, and our determination and commitment to it remains stoic,”
Odaudu said.