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Sirika blames Air Peace, United, Azman for failure of Nigeria Air

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Former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Hadi Sirika, has said some domestic operators, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria, caused the collapse of the Nigeria Air agreement between the federal government and Ethiopian Airlines..”Read Original/For More…Read D Full Story Here Now.”

Sirika argued that while the agreement, which passed through the Federal Executive Council, FEC, and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, was transparent, Air Peace, Azman and United Nigeria Airlines hindered the establishment due to the limited stake Nigeria would have had.

Speaking on Morning Brief, a Channels TV programme, the former minister, who promised to write a book on his time in office, urged the citizenry to invoke the Freedom of Information Act, FOI, to investigate claims that the agreement was fraudulent.

According to him, he formally sought partnership with Ethiopian Airlines because no domestic carrier had the capacity to compete with the mega carriers.

His words: “I think I was on either Channels or Arise during the controversy of Nigeria Air. First and foremost, it was a public private partnership, PPP, which was regulated by ICRC, which gave a certificate of the OBC and ABS, which participated actively in the process. It was not our process.

“It was the process of ICRC. It was not a bad deal. I read in the papers that I spent N100 billion or thereabouts, and it was lost in the process. That was a lie. Between 2015 and 2023, the total budget for the national carrier was N5billion. The total amount released was N3 billion. I left there with over a billion naira.

“Nearly a third of the N2 billion spent went into the consultancy that was used during the time and the balance of the money, of course, into staff that were hired. By the way, we went through every single step of the ICRC process, and we got it to the end.

“We had an airline, but some people (Air Peace, United and Azman) went to court to say we cannot establish an airline where we take five per cent. That was what stalled it. If there was no court case, and the government that came in had pursued the court case, by today, we will have an airline.

“Talking about Ethiopian Airlines. 95 per cent of all airlines operating within Africa are not African. British Airways, Qatar, Air France and others. Ethiopian Airlines has been running an airline for 79 years. They have made a statement of how to run an airline, and they are Africans.

“They came to partner with us to be able to open up the world to us. Today, the price of a ticket from Abuja to London is more expensive than Accra to London, and the reason is because we do not have a formidable airline with the capacity to continue to do so.

‘’We have seen Air Peace before, we have seen Azman before. When I say we have seen them, I mean we have seen Kabo, which was much bigger than all of them. We have seen Okada, Arik. They all came and went. What is amiss is the capacity they need to build to compete with people who have 250 aeroplanes.

“I do not think an airline that has five aircraft can compete in the global market with well-established carriers and expect to operate and make profit.

‘’To sum it up, all we did to establish Nigeria Air we had taken to the final step before these people now went to court. There was no fraud. If there was, they would have said it.

“If the minister (current Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development) is saying it is a bad deal, Nigerians should invoke the Freedom of Information Act, FOI, to go to the ministry of aviation and get the document. They should also go to ICRC to get the document and establish where the fraud is. It was not a fraud, it was a lie.

“This airline (Nigeria Air), whether now or in the future, will come to be because we did not arrogate to ourselves the knowledge of aviation alone.

‘’When the bid (for Nigeria Air) happened transparently, in which some of those airlines participated, Ethiopian Airlines won fair and square.”

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National Pension Commission (PenCom) changes price disclosure rule

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National Pension Commission (PenCom) has directed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to discontinue the publication of daily unit prices for Retirement Savings Account (RSA) and Retiree Funds on their websites, replacing the requirement with a six-month disclosure of returns based on a three-year rolling average.

The directive was contained in a circular issued by the commission.

Under the new guideline, PFAs must stop implementing Section 2.0 (iv) of the Commission’s March 23, 2013 circular, which required them to display daily unit prices for the last seven days.

Instead, they are to publish on their websites the last six months’ rate of return — calculated as a 36-month compounded rolling average in line with the Circular for the Calculation and Reporting of Rate of Returns by Licensed Pension Fund Operators (LPFOs).

According to the commission, the rate of return must be clearly displayed on the homepage of each PFA’s website.

For instance, the six-month disclosure covering April to September 2025 would reflect the 36-month compounded returns ending in each of those months.

This has however raised transparency concerns in the pension industry.

The 2013 circular on Minimum Information to be displayed on PFA Websites formed part of PenCom’s transparency framework for the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The latest addendum modifies that requirement but does not remove PFAs’ obligation to disclose performance information.

Industry watchers say the development may reignite debate over the balance between long-term investment reporting and real-time transparency in Nigeria’s pension industry.

All enquiries on the addendum, the Commission said, should be directed to its Surveillance Department.

An industry analyst who does not want her name mentioned said the move could reduce contributors’ access to real-time performance data.

She said: “Daily unit prices allowed RSA holders to independently track short-term movements and detect fluctuations in fund valuation.

“With only a three-year rolling average now required, contributors will no longer see recent performance in isolation”, she noted.

The analyst added that while pension funds are long-term vehicles, removing daily disclosure raises concerns about information asymmetry.

“PFAs will still compute daily valuations internally. The issue is whether contributors should be denied access to data that already exists,” the analyst said.

However, another pension expert defended the directive, noting that pensions are structured for long-term accumulation and should be assessed over extended periods.

“A 36-month rolling average smooth’s out short-term volatility and provides a more accurate reflection of sustained performance,” the expert said, warning that excessive focus on daily fluctuations could encourage reactionary fund switching.

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Dollar rises in black market on Monday, traders quote new exchange rate

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Dollar edges higher against the naira in black market trading Dollar edges higher against the naira in black market trading

The United States dollar at the parallel market increased in value on Monday, Febuary 23 with traders quote at N1,375/$ as the new selling exchange rate.

The new rate is a slight depreciation for the naira when compared to N1,343 a dollar market closed on Friday, February 20, 2026.

Abdulahhi, a forex dealer, told Legit.ng that the new exchange rate follows renew demand in the market.

“I am currently selling dollars at N1,375/$1 and buying at N1,355/$1. The pound is trading at N1,845 to sell and N1,805 to buy, while the euro is also moving steadily in the market.

“It seems this week the dollar will return to over N1,400. I have been getting a lot of request.”

The fall of the naira comes as BDC operators continue to face difficulties in accessing dollars from commercial banks.

BDCs can get dollar

The apex bank had previously issued a circular allowing licensed BDCs to access foreign exchange through authorised dealers at the prevailing market rate.

Under the directive, each BDC is permitted to purchase up to $150,000 weekly, subject to Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and due diligence checks, Punch reports.

Leadership reported that despite a policy announcement, some operators disclosed that no transactions have been completed under the new arrangement.

A BDC operator, who requested anonymity, said the directive remains largely unimplemented. According to him, the circular provides that disbursements will be made through settlement accounts, a provision that has raised operational concerns.

He questioned the feasibility of seamless, real-time transfers between domiciliary accounts across different banks, noting that such infrastructure may not yet be fully in place.

The operator added that while commercial banks appear supportive of the policy, many are still developing internal processes to align with the CBN’s directive.

He explained that BDCs are required to submit bid orders through their banks, which would then access the market on their behalf.

Naira in the official market

Meanwhile, in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the naira closed against the US dollar on Friday, February 20 at N1,346.32/$1 from N1,341.35/$1 a day earlier.

At the GTBank FX desk, the naira weakened by N7 against the dollar to quote N1,356/$1.

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