Senate Panel accuses Governors of wasting billions on building airports

The Senate Committee on Aviation on Friday approved the rehabilitation of eight airstrips across the country, accusing governors of wasting billions to build airports.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja.

He spoke while presenting his panel’s report on the 2022 Budget to the Appropriations Committee.

Adeyemi, who expressed dissatisfaction with excessive spending on building of airports by states, said the rehabilitation of the airstrips will enable the people to move around the country, especially the hinterland.

He said most airports in Nigeria, aside those in Lagos, Abuja and few others, were elephant projects and could not boast of 100,000 passengers in a year.

He, therefore, urged state governments to stop wasting billions on building airports, but consider a functional airstrip, which only requires between N1 billion and N2 billion to construct.

He listed the eight airstrips proposed for rehabilitation: Uli-Okija (Anambra) Bida (Niger), Zuru (Kebbi), Zaria (Kaduna), Kotangora (Niger), Ajaokuta, (Kogi) Irrhua (Edo) and Mubi (Adamawa).

Senator Adeyemi said: “We must not have or plan of having a full fledged airport in many cities of Nigeria, but we could have airstrips that will enable people to move around the country.

“The COVID-19 has made it imperative to start thinking of accelerating the economic development of the country.

“That is why the airstrips must be rehabilitated.

“We only need N1 billion or N2 billion to construct a functional airstrip.

“Whether an airport is having a terminal of N10 billion or N20 billion does not matter.

“What matters is that it must have a good landing facility.

“If we have a good runway for an airstrip, it may not be able to accommodate a Boeing series, but it could accommodate a shuttle flight of 50 passengers, which is okay.

“We don’t need a Boeing series that would be looking for 100 passengers to take off.

“If we have a 50-seater aircraft, it could land and pick 30 passengers at no loss.

“But if you are waiting for a Boeing series before you construct airport, you are not helping the Nigerian nation.

“We should not be looking at aviation from the level of America.

“We have to graduate and the way to do it is to have airstrip in place.”