Ethiopian Airline has rejected offer by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to invest in Nigeria’s struggling Arik Air, according to reports by BusinessDay.

A source close to the government told BusinessDay that AMCON had met with Ethiopian Airline to invest in Arik Air, but was turned down.

Although the source did not say exactly why the offer was turned down but the myriad of issues surrounding the takeover of Arik by AMCON could have been a factor.

Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide, founder and chairman of Arik Air, confirmed the development, saying the plan by government to invite Ethiopian Airlines to manage Arik had failed, and threatened to sue Ethiopian Airlines if it took over the management of Arik.

AMCON had on February 9 taken over the management of Arik Air over mounting debts that it (AMCON) claimed would have grounded the operations of the airline without the corporation’s intervention.

AMCON had put Arik’s total debt profile at more than N300 billion and accused the airline of lacking corporate governance.

Arumemi-Ikhide said that Arik's huge debts were due to the depreciating value of naira, as projections and funding were based on N165 per dollar which went down to N305 per dollar in June, 2016.

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