Decision by the Presidency and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to approve the re-routing of all Abuja bound flights to Kaduna Airport has attracted more of condemnations than commendations.
Many argued that the decision was more political than serving the best interest of aviation customers and other stakeholders.
The first FEC meeting in 2017, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved Kaduna Airport, used primarily for domestic flights, as an alternative to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, which would be closed for six weeks within which repairs on the runways would be effected.
But, the decision to divert all Abuja-bound flights to Kaduna when the Abuja airport would have been closed for repairs after threats by airlines to stop flying the federal capital territory due to the bad runway, many believed has shown evidence of strained relationship between Governor Sani Bello of Niger State and the Presidency.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that interests in the nation’s aviation sector may jettison the use of Kaduna Airport or suspend international flights beyond Lagos and Enugu airports, respectively, during the Abuja airport runway repairs basically due to security reasons.
The Minister of State (Aviation), Hadi Sirika, said that diverting flights to Kaduna was for security reasons, to avert accidents that could occur due to the deplorable condition of the airport runway but this is only an attempt to solve a fraction of the multifaceted security issues the FEC’s decision has failed to address, Mr. Ibrahim Ojobo said.
According to Ojobo, “By every standards, Minna International Airport is better. It has one of the best runways when compared to other airports in Nigeria. But may be for political undertone or reasons best known to the Presidency and Governor El-Rufai the decision was reached for Kaduna Airport”.
If the federal government is considering insecurity then the choice of Kaduna as an alternative to Abuja is wrong, Ojobo argued, adding that, “Some parts of Kaduna State are still very volatile and again, the airport in question is relatively small to take the number of national and international flights that flock into Abuja, the second busiest airport in Nigeria after Lagos.
“Kaduna State is about 160km (100 miles) to the north, it will cost more than a billion Naira to complete the Kaduna Airport terminal rehabilitation but less than half of same sum will be enough to complete the dualisation of the Minna-Suleja dual carriage way and complete rehabilitation at the Minna International Airport and passengers’ security is guaranteed”.
Ojobo said that the federal government or President Buhari seems to be more interested in rewarding his political son, El-Rufai, than caring about the security of Nigerians and non-Nigerians, if not; why must they choose Kaduna when they can spend less than the money budgeted for the Kaduna airport repairs for the Minna-Sulaja road and the Minna airport itself.
“Again, I read that the council approved over N4 billion for the purchase of firefighting equipment for the Kaduna Airport. So you can see why many of us believe the Federal Government’s choice of Kaduna with more security challenge than Minna in Niger State is playing politics with the security of lives and properties of aviation customers,” he said.
Besides the non-utilization of the Minna Airport, it was not possible to confirm if the abandonment of work on the Minna-Suleja dual carriage way, a contract awarded by the Goodluck Jonathan administration despite lobbying is part of the plot to technically edge out Governor Sani Bello from the mainstream kitchen cabinet of President Buhari.
Meanwhile, authorities of the Minna Airport have declined comments when our correspondent visited with the view to ascertain the level of preparedness should the federal government decide to change its mind due to pressure over security situation in Kaduna when the Abuja airport will be closed for repairs on March 8.
The manager was said to have traveled out of the state while few of the staff were seen loitering around the premises.
The entire airport vicinity was wearing the look of years of abandonment, particularly the arrival hall and surroundings which were deserted apparently because nothing was going on therein except for few individuals at the administrative section of the airport where two of the senior officials who refused to disclose their identities were idling away time.
One of them however said, “We are not authorized to speak to journalists, if you need any issue refer to the Media Department of the FAAN in Abuja, but all I can tell you is, the FEC has already approved Kaduna as alternative to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja”.
Also, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sani Bello, Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace, denied knowledge of any frosty relationship between his principal and the Presidency which could have caused the state being neglected.
Ndace however argued: “I don’t think the federal government decided to use Kaduna airport as an alternative to Nnamdi Azikiwe airport because Minna airport is abandoned or has anything to do with past administration in the state.
“There is also no known political undertone to the issue of the Presidency or FEC choosing Kaduna instead of Minna airport as an alternative to Abuja. The President sees our Governor as his son so I can tell you there is no frosty relationship to the best of my knowledge”.
The CPS however said, “I do know that Minna airport is a credible alternative to the Abuja airport, with enough space that can take a good number of planes. Above all, in terms of security, it is just less than 15 minutes drive from town.
“Before now the Governor had made moves to ensure that the Minna airport renovation is completed maybe could serve as an off-shoot of Abuja because of the proximity. I think our problem here is the abandoned Minna-Abuja dual carriage road and the proposed rail-line”.
