A Nigerian Airline is in trouble for flying a musician for a concert in Abuja. The CEO has defended the company saying he thought he was a government official not a ‘bunch of useless people.’
Executive Jets Services Ltd says it airlifted rapper Azeez Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, from Lagos to Abuja for a concert, in error via an official letter to the Minister of Aviation.
Executive Jet Company has apologised to the aviation minister for flying musician Naira Marley on Saturday from the commercial hub, Lagos, to the capital, Abuja, to perform at a concert.
According to a report by BBC, Executive Jet Company was suspended by the minister for facilitating what was classed as non-essential travel and was against the government’s recommendations to fight the spread of coronavirus.
In an apology letter to the aviation minister, the airline’s CEO, Sam Iwuajoku, said the flight had been initially booked for a judge on Sunday who then made other travel arrangements.
Mr Iwuajoku said in the letter that he had approved the flight on Saturday after reviewing the passenger manifest and thought one of them was a government minister.
“I saw Fashiola Babatunde, I thought it was the Honourable Minister for Works with his men, so we decided to do the flight since [it was] a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I didn’t know that it was a bunch of useless people,” Mr Iwuajoku said.
Nigerian artist Naira Marley was among the 10 passengers who were on the flight instead.
The hitmaker has since taken to social media to call out the company and vowed never to fly with the airline ever again.
He however admitted that his brother’s name is Moshood Babatunde Fashola, the passenger who was mistakenly identified as the government official.
The CEO later backtracked his ‘useless people’ comment saying it was in a fit of anger but he wished that the artist would be arrested for playing at a concert in the middle of a pandemic.
