Keyamo said that if the aircraft in the country’s aviation sector are not properly checked, they will become “flying coffins”.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has reacted to the criticism he has been getting over the suspension of Dana Air operations.
The airline’s operations were suspended after an aircraft (MD82 with registration marks 5SN-BKI) carrying 83 passengers experienced a runway incursion on Tuesday after landing at the domestic wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos from Abuja.
Speaking on Thursday on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Keyamo said that if the aircraft in the country’s aviation sector are not properly checked, they will become “flying coffins”.
He said, “The last thing I want to do is deceive Nigerians about the state of health of commercial aircraft.
“There was an audit two years ago that confirmed the unhealthy status of Dana aircraft, and then at some points, something happened, and I said, go back and review it and see how thorough was that before I allowed them to fly again.
READ ALSO: FG grounds all Dana Air operations following Tuesday’s incident at MMIA
“The problem with this sector is that we have people who claim to be experts everywhere. Everybody is an aviation expert. People who have sold puff puff at the airport will tell you that they have been at the airport for a long time, so they are aviation experts.
“And I have challenged them over and over again since I came to office to come on TV if they have ideas and better ways to run the aviation sector and debate with me because what we have done since we came was to set clear priority areas for ourselves.”
Fielding questions on how he intends to curb the irregularities in the aviation sector, Keyamo said there was deep complicity within the system and that the cleansing process will start and continue until they are resolved.
“The cleansing process is within the system because you see regulators at times buying big houses and driving big cars. Regulators who are supposed to be public servants.
“They endanger the lives of Nigerians by cutting corners. Certain people, among them, falsify reports, checks, and training, among others.
“The commentaries by so-called aviation experts since yesterday is a system of corruption that we are fighting and we are going to bring it down within the sector. This sector is one of the most corrupt that I have seen because people bypass regulations,” he maintained.