The management of Aero Contractors has said that the deposited $3 million non-refundable part-payment meant for the acquisition of a 70-seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft was not from the airline.

This is as the airline declared that the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, approved for it by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the repairs of Boeing 737 series aircraft was part of the idea of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) for the turning around of the suspended carrier when it took over.

A document made available to Daily Independent by a source close to the airline indicated that a private firm, Elin Group Limited, with interest in real estate development, power generation, agricultural development, gas utilisation, mining operations and maritime actually indicated the willingness to invest in the acquisition of brand new three Bombardier aircraft.

Aero Contractors before the planned acquisition of the three aircraft already had a two years maintenance, operation, ground handling, passenger handling and management service agreement dated July 24, 2019 with the Elin Group Limited.

The agreement, according to sources, was to take effect from August 1, 2019, till July 31, 2021 and renewable through writing three months before the expiry of the agreement.

The document showed that the firm had ordered for the three aircraft with different payment plans in which the sum of $3.5 million was paid as an initial non-refundable payment.

The document dated December 20, 2019, singed by Scot Preece, Senior Contracts Specialist, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (formerly Bombardier Aircraft Company), based in Quebec, Canada and addressed to Dr. Caroline Pritheesh, the Managing Director, Elin Group, spelt out the terms of payment for the aircraft.

The document revealed that the firm was supposed to make a total $14,826,240 for the three aircraft in accordance with the agreement.

The payment plan indicated that as at December 20, 2019, the company was supposed to have paid the sum of $4,913,532 by April 2020 for the delivery of the first aircraft, $4,943,080 in August 2020 for the delivery of second aircraft and another $4,970,628 by October 2020 for the delivery of third aircraft.

The agreement between Aero and Elin Group was, however, abruptly terminated by March 12, 2020 following a request for such by the Group, saying that “it has concluded plans for the aircraft to come under Elin Group AOC (Air Operator Certificate).

This development was not contemplated at the time the agreement was entered into.

However, Capt. Ado Sanusi, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aero Contractors, when the agreement was entered into and terminated by the two companies confirmed the developments to Daily Independent.

Sanusi insisted that the trapped $3.5 million non-refundable payment did not belong to Aero Contractors, and could not also confirm if the sum was recovered by the Elin Group from the aircraft manufacturer.

But he confirmed that the airline entered into an agreement with the group, which was later terminated by both parties.

He said: “Yes, I can confirm to you that the Elin Group was in an agreement with Aero Contractors as at that time, but the money in question did not belong to Aero and there was no way the money could have been diverted.

So, I cannot confirm to you if the money was later recovered or not because it didn’t belong to Aero.

I think the company will be in the best position to tell you that. I was the CEO of Aero Contractors from February 2017 till January 2021.”

Besides, Sanusi dismissed the notion that the MRO facility of the airline did not originate from the airline company, rather from one of the companies, which bided to manage the airline.

According to him, after the takeover of Aero by AMCON, the new owner advertised in the media for interested partners in which nine firms, including TAL Helicopters bided, but pointed out that after the bidding, three of the companies were dropped, while another three were preferred bidders.

Sanusi insisted that MRO had always been part of Aero Contractors from the outset, stressing that the airline had always maintained smaller aircraft, but the management was later encouraged to upgrade the facility to the maintenance of B737 aircraft after a meeting with its engineers.

He added: “It is a fallacy to say there was no MRO among the plan of Aero. The MRO has always been there.

The engineers in Aero Contractors have been nursing the idea. So, they advised that I could upgrade the MRO to the one that could maintain B737 aircraft.

“So, a company from South Africa was with us for a very long time.

Also, we had A.J Waters and other technical partners with us. The only thing I did was to provide the leadership for them when I was appointed its CEO. All these are well-documented in the airline.”

(Daily Independent: Text, excluding headline)

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