Tahir Monguno Motion Blocks Nigeria Air Revival and Seeks Direct China Flights

Nigeria's Senate on November 3, 2026, voted down a bid to revive the Nigeria Air contracts awarded under former aviation minister Hadi Sirika in the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the result after debate on a motion by Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno that the Bola Tinubu government reopen the Nigeria–China Bilateral Air Services Agreement.

Monguno said Nigerian airlines should get scheduled rights to China on reciprocal terms. The chamber adopted the motion by voice vote. It still said Nigeria needs a national carrier and asked the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to look at building one, without restarting Nigeria Air.

Key details

• Buhari unveiled Nigeria Air in May 2023, days before leaving office. The Senate called further talk on those contracts unproductive.
• Monguno named Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja as the intended West and Central Africa gateways to East Asia. He asked for reciprocal slots, code-share, fee waivers, and a naira settlement window under the existing currency-swap framework.
• The Committees on Aviation and Foreign Affairs have four weeks to report. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked to raise business visas and Chinese airport slots.

It is something that we need to rejig to make sure that the BASA is revisited to enable Nigerian airlines to fly directly to China.

Why it matters

Akpabio said Chinese airlines already fly Nigeria while Nigerian carriers cannot fly China nonstop, so traders use Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. That imbalance, not a new flag carrier, is what the four-week committee clock is meant to fix first.