The Nigerian federal government is trying to achieve the transfer from Lagos to the capital Abuja of a court case aimed at preventing the establishment of Nigeria Air - its new joint venture national carrier with Ethiopian Airlines.

In an affidavit filed on January 13, the defendants - Nigeria Air, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika, and Attorney General Abubakar Malami – argued that continuing the court case in Lagos would be a financial burden on them as they resided and worked in Abuja.

In November, the Nigerian Federal High Court in Lagos ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending the case's determination after it had already granted an interim injunction preventing the government from selling shares in Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines, pending the continuation of the court case this week. This followed an application by airline members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to have Nigeria Air's air transport license (ATL) revoked on competitive grounds.

An AON source told Vanguard newspaper the organisation would file a counter affidavit challenging the motion to transfer the case out of Lagos. "A transfer may equally affect [a] fair hearing and may lead to the manipulation of the case. Definitely, we will oppose the transfer of the case to Abuja. All the parties involved in this case are based in Lagos, and AON's office is also in Lagos," the source said.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports the case was postponed to February 13, 2023, following a conflict of interest amongst the plaintiff airlines. At a resumed January 16 hearing, two AON member airlines lodged a counter-motion opposing the suit, met by objections from the rest of the AON group. The defence counsel requested an adjournment to study the development.