Cross River move on lease manager for Cally Air gets danger signals popping 

By Sade Williams/Business a.m.

• Appointed Meler’s Global Resources ‘inactive’ at CAC

The Cross River State governor has appointed an ‘inactive’ company, whose primary activity at incorporation is crop and animal production, hunting and related services activities as Lease Manager for Cally Air Aircraft.

The company, Meler’s Global Resources Limited, with RC Number 1085541 was incorporated in December 2012 with its address as House 1, Road 16, opposite General Gas Oyo, Oyo State with Eric Atuo having significant control and is inactive in the records of the Corporate Affairs Commission.

The implication is that the company incorporated in 2012 may have been dormant for years without filing or remittance of tax to the tax authorities in more than eleven years.

Aside from that, it is also very curious how such a company, without experience in aviation related business, could be saddled with such a huge responsibility of handling delicate airline business as lease manager for Cally Air aircraft.

Governor Bassey Edet Otu of Cross River State had in a letter signed by the secretary to the state government, Owan Enoh, and dated June 21, 2023 with reference SSG/GAO/102/VOL.V1/221 says, “His Excellency, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu has approved the immediate cancellation of the tripartite coordination agreement between Cross River State, Harrier Global Services Limited and Aero Contractors Company.

“Consequently, His Excellency, the Governor has approved the appointment of Melers Global Resources Limited as the lease manager for Cross River State. The appointment takes effect from June 21, 2023.”

It would be recalled that trouble had broken out a few weeks ago over Cally Air’s reported N900 million debts to its technical partner, Aero Contractors.

The matter had in May pitted Ben Ayade, the former governor, Ben Ayade and his successor Otu and Aero Contractors.

It was learnt that while the former administration wanted Cally Air’s only surviving asset, a Boeing 737-300 with the registration number 5N-BYQ, to be brought to Calabar for project commissioning and “concessioning” exercise, the Otu group and some stakeholders kicked against the move.

A source close to Ayade said that the former governor had been consistent with the plan to concession the airline.

According to the tripartite agreement, the state government acquired two aeroplanes: 5N-BYQ and 5N-GRS, and selected IRS Airlines Limited as its consultant and asset manager, while Aero Contractors was designated as the operator and expected to provide licences, permits and certificates necessary for the airline to operate a passenger transport aircraft.