Aviation

Saraki fingers aviation ministry, poor planning for traffic diversion to Kaduna

Published

10 years ago

February 11, 2017

Senate President Bukola Saraki has blamed poor planning in the aviation ministry for the federal government decision to divert air traffoc to the Kaduna Onternational Airport while the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, is undergoing a make-over.

He told Niger’s Gov Sani Bello on Friday that even now there is no provioson for the rehab of the airport in the 2016 and 2017 budgets.

In a statement released on Friday by his media aide, Bamikole Omisore, Saraki said the non-completion of the Minna Airport re-modelling project is the reason flights have to be diverted Kaduna.

“It is the lack of option that brings us to where we are that we cannot make a good choice,” Saraki said.

“No provision was made, in either the 2016 or 2017 budget, for the rehabilitation of the Abuja airport runaway… one will be wondering how such kind of decisions are arrived at.”

But he said all that will be factored in to the appropriation for 2017.

The prosed closure of the Abuja airport has generated debates on the Senate where many of the lawmakers believe such emergency is an international embarrassment.

Planes touching down at the Kaduna airport now will have their passengers bussed back to Abuja amidst tight security.