WHY WE TERMINATED MOU WITH LUFTHANSA - AVIATION MINISTER

By NBF News

The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, has said that the inability of German airline, Lufthansa, to honour the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between it and the Federal Ministry of Aviation led to the termination of the MoU.

The minister added that when it was clear that Lufthansa was not honouring the MoU, the aviation ministry exempted the German airline's immediate flight schedule.

Oduah spoke through her lawyer, Dr Alex Izinyon (SAN), in a letter made available to LEADERSHIP while clarifying the circumstances leading to the termination of the MoU between the aviation ministry and Lufthansa.

Controversy has trailed the ministry of aviation's termination of the MoU with Lufthansa   in a letter dated November 7, 2012.

Shedding more light on the matter, the   minister stated that when the MoU was put in place on November 10, 2008, the two parties agreed on three cardinal points that were considered sacrosanct to the agreement.

According to her , the three points are, ' Grant of additional traffic right to Lufthansa on mutual benefit to both parties, transfer of know-how and generation of employment opportunities and creation of a hub by Lufthansa in collaboration with capable and identified Nigeria operators ( to be specified) in Abuja'.

But the  minister stated that the MoU did not exempt Lufthansa from paying royalty meant to be paid from the commercial agreement duly documented, and said that when the airline stopped paying royalty on October 24, 2009, the commercial agreement stopped.