A bid by Ethopian Airlines to take over Arik Air is currently engulfed in controversy, as major stakeholders in the country have denied knowledge of the bid.
The Managing Director of Ethopian Airlines International Services, Esayas WoldeMariam, was qouted by CNN as saying on Thursday that the airline had submitted a formal offer to take over the carrier.
“We have outlined our terms and conditions to the Nigerian government and we are waiting to see if they agree. We are capable and desirous of handling the airline,” WoldeMariam said.
The CNN report also quoted Godfrey Odudigbo of the Nigerian embassy in Addis Ababa as saying that negotiations over Arik could be concluded by the end of the year.
However, sources within the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, which currently manages Arik and the Ministry of Aviation said they were not aware of the development.
A source in AMCON, claimed, while speaking with Punch, that there had been no confirmation from any government agency since the news broke and that the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, had said that he was unaware of Ethiopian Airlines’ bid for Arik’s management.
“There is no confirmation from any government agency; the minister says he is not aware of the development, AMCON says it is not aware either. If the major stakeholders are not aware, then who did Ethiopian Airlines approach for the takeover?” the source said.
It would be recalled that shortly after the take over of Arik by AMCON, there were reports that Ethiopian Airlines rejected an offer by AMCON to invest in Arik.
This was said to be because of the huge debt profile of Arik, said to be in the region of N300 billion.
