The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to arrest former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika. The group said Sirika should be thoroughly investigated over his role on the butched Nigeria Air scandal. Alhaji Yerima Shettima, National President of AYCF, in a statement, said that Nigeria is not a banana republic where anything goes, stressing that the likes of Sirika and his cohorts should not be let go of the embarrassment caused Nigeria as a nation. He noted that the recent revelation by the interim Managing Director of the airline, Captain Dapo Olumide, when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Aviation, where he disclosed that the aircraft used for the unveiling of Nigeria Air was rented from Ethiopian Airlines was a slap on Nigerians’ faces. He observed that rather than the former aviation minister going around media houses giving unsatisfactory explanations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should wade into the matter urgently by arresting him for proper questioning and prosecution. The statement explained, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already started demonstrating that it is no longer going to be business as usual in Nigeria, he should also go a step further by giving an immediate order to the anti graft agency to bring Former minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika to book to serve as deterrent to others going forward.”.It said that the action of Sirika amounts to deception and breach of trust that should not go unpunished, adding that he must be made to face the law, particularly in the face of absolute disregard for the rule of law and the entire justice system, by proceeding on the unveiling against the order of a competent court of law. The statement added that the national embarrassment and waste of resources incurred on the country would have been averted if he had listened to advice. According to him, if the EFCC failed to yield to this national call and do the needful with immediate effect, the forum would be left with no option but to take legal action against the former Minister. He said that they would also mobilize CSOs, activists, NGOs, students and others to take to the streets across the country until he is brought to book.
