The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the fixed-wing scheduled airline certification process of OmniBlu Aviation (O7, Lagos), due to a conflict of interest, reports the Daily Trust newspaper.
This decision came after it was discovered that Akin Olateru, the Director-General of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), is a shareholder in the airline. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Act of 2022 prohibits employees in the aviation sector from having a financial interest in aviation enterprises. The Act also requires full disclosure of such interests.
The Daily Trust cited an October 3 letter in which the NCAA informed the company that Phase Two of its five-phase air operator's certificate (AOC) process was suspended due to Olateru's involvement.
The airline is reportedly taking steps to resolve the conflict and continue the certification process.
The NCAA and OmniBlu Aviation did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, OmniBlu owns a single dedicated B737-200C freighter, 5N-IZB (msn 23292).
The company's website shows OmniBlu is involved in helicopter services for the oil and gas, charter, air ambulance, and general aviation sectors with S-76, Bell Helicopter, Hawker 125, and AW139 helicopters, plus Bombardier Aerospace Challenger 604s and Beech (twin turboprop) King Air B200s.
