Senate may stop closure of Abuja Airport

  Strong indications emerged yesterday that the Senate may stop the planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Aviation from March 8, 2017.

   Senate President Bukola Saraki said: “The idea of closing down the airport is not the best.”
The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly worried that the closure will not serve the people’s collective interest has summoned the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Muhammad Bello.
  Others invited include the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, officials of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other stakeholders in the aviation sector.
The top government officials are expected to brief Senators on the details of the planned closure as well as to explore other options to avoid a total shutdown.
   The motion was sponsored by Senator Hope Uzodinma and co-sponsored by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Abdullahi A. Gume, Fatima Rasak and Baba Garbai.
Uzodinma said a six-week outright closure of a major and the only airport in the nation’s federal capital can inflict untold hardships on international and local air travellers and consequently dent the nation’s image.
  He said a complete shutdown of the airport would impact negatively on international trade and related activities, with a multiplier effect that can exact further pressure on the recessed economy.
The lawmaker argued that the logistics and security challenges which the diversion of Abuja-bound flights to Kaduna would throw up, including endangering the lives and properties of international and local air travellers who will be forced to travel by road from Kaduna to Abuja.
Senator Ekweremadu said: “No doubt that we have challenges in the aviation sector, including delayed flights and insecurity. What I do not agree with is that the airport will be closed while the repairs are ongoing. It will not be a rocket science to repair a runway. It has been done in many parts of the world.
“Closing the airport means we are not thinking deeply. To think about closing it is an insult to our collective thinking. From those I have spoken with, it means there was no proper consultation.
Sun news online