By Ifeanyi Olannye

The Delta Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), on Thursday, berated the state government over the concessioning of the Asaba International Airport to a concessionaire.

The party’s reaction was conveyed in a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary (Caretaker), Mr Sylvester Imonina in Asaba.

Titled “Asaba Airport Concessionaire, another monumental fraud”, Imonina said the party concurred that “the government has no business in business”.

“This will mean that the business of any serious minded government is to provide enabling environment for private businesses to thrive.

“It is on this premise that Delta APC supports any government that is transparent in the concessionaire of public properties.

“Unfortunately, the fraud called concessionaire of Asaba Airport will go down in history as the greatest bleak, shady business and economic coup against the people of Delta State.

“It is an affront to common sense that an airport business, wherein more than N40 billion was invested, was concessioned for N4 billion and to yield N100 million annually because of vested interests,” the party stated.

He added that it was shocking that there was no advertisement nor adequate information on plans by the government to concession the airport.

The party challenged the State Government to put in the public domain all that transpired about the concession of the airport.

“Also, the government should show to the people of the state the corporate bodies that took part in the exercise and how much each of them bidded.

“We call on the good people of Delta State and all men of goodwill to kick against this obvious shenanigans called concessions of Asaba Airport.” (NAN).

By Ibrahim Bello

The Federal Government has taken over the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Kebbi, Alhaji Abubakar Ladan, the state Commissioner for Works and Transport, has said.

Ladan who made the disclosure to newsmen on Thursday in Birnin Kebbi said the airport had not been sold to any private individual, contrary to rumour.

“There is no iota of truth in the rumour going round that the state government is planning to sell the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport to a private individual.

“All the airports in the country are in the exclusive list. There is no way any state government can convert them as their own or sell them to individuals,’’ the commissioner said.

Ladan explained that the federal government had taken over 10 of such airports after their completion by state governments.

He said: “The airports include those of Ekiti, Gombe, Anambra, Nassarawa, Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi and Benue States, among others.

“I don’t know how the story came about that the airport (Sir Ahamdu Bello International Airport) had been sold.

“Who was it sold to? I want to use this occasion to tell you the true story of the airport.

“The aviation sector is in the exclusive list and any state that wants to construct an airport must get a cleare approval from the federal government.

“So, once you construct the airport, you only have the manager, but the technical crew handling the airport is federal government’s staff and those of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“You do not have the right to regulate the airport. We only agreed to allow the federal government to take over the airport because of management issue and other things.

“It is not the issue of sales; federal government took over the airport of Kebbi State and we demanded that the amount we used to construct it be refunded to the state.”

The commissioner said that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the refund in March 2020.

According to him, the letter sent to the state said that the president had approved the refund of N16 billion to the state government, being the amount spent to construct the airport.

“The process of refunding the money is still on and as soon as the 2021 budget is implemented, the state government will be refunded,” Ladan added. (NAN)

By Gabriel Agbeja

The Federal Government is to harness activities of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) for national development, in all relevant sectors that rely on its services, Sen. Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, said on Tuesday, in Abuja.

Speaking at the presentation of NiMet’s  2021 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), under the theme:  “Supporting the Economy cope with the Challenges of COVID-19 Global Pandemic in Nigeria, “ Sirika added that taking such a measure would improve the outputs of every sector that rely on NiMet`s prediction for their functional activities.

“The Federal Government under the able leadership of Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Force, Muhammadu Buhari is very much committed to supporting the advancement of Meteorology for national development in all relevant sectors.

“ I shall,  in this respect, continue to support and encourage NiMet to do more in order to meet the aspirations of Mr. President.

“In the wake of increasing trends of uncertainties regarding weather in a changing climate, NiMet has continued to strive for excellence in meeting national, regional and global expectations in weather and climate service delivery,” he said.

According to him, the predictions from NiMet, on a seasonal timescale, had evolved over time with improvement in methodology, and the lead-time, including the deployment of more analytical tools and models, improved knowledge and scientific skills and broadening of stakeholders and the user community.

NiMet`s Director- General, Prof. Sani Mashi, said the agency had deepened efforts in transitioning from only rainfall as a prediction, to more climate variables, such that stakeholders that benefit from NiMet’s predictions now ranged from primarily the agricultural sector, to other relevant weather and climate-sensitive sectors of the economy.

“ These evolvements have necessitated a change in the nomenclature of the document from Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) to Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) to reflect aforementioned improvements there by truly reflecting the contents of the publication.

“The SCP is a national publication designed to provide climate information early, with the aim of assisting all relevant stakeholders and user communities to factor the predictions in their policies and activities for the year,“ he said.

The director general said the 2021 SCP document contained valuable information for planning activities in all sectors of the economy.

He added that NiMet predictions focused on Agricultural Activities , Security, Water Resources, Health, Environment, Transportation, Power and Energy, Marine, Construction, Oil and Gas, Telecommunications, insurance and Finance , Trade and Commerce, Disaster Risk Reduction, among others.

In his speech, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, commended the minister and the director general for their laudable effort  at sustaining the agency, but lamented the absence of some ministries that ought to be in attendance at the event, for the useful information that they could harvest from the SCP.

“It is a rascality in government, it will be addressed, “ he added. (NAN)

By Abujah Racheal

The Federal Government has threatened to suspend flight operations from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and The Netherlands due to the new COVID-19 protocols introduced by both countries for incoming travellers.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Musa Nuhu, disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 media briefing on Monday in Abuja.

Nuhu said that both countries recently requested that passengers from Nigeria must carry out a PCR test four hours before departing the country.

“In addition to the requirements are a requirement for PCR test before passengers depart from Nigeria to their countries. They are adding an extra requirement of having a rapid test done four hours before departure or before you board.

“For us, passengers do the test 72 hours before departure and then the PCR test and the PTF recognises the rights of all countries to put in measures to protect their citizens just like Nigeria has done.

“If they insist on having these additional tests being done, then PTF has decided that their operations will be suspended into Nigeria,” Nuhu said.

The NCAA boss added that these countries and airlines would not determine for Nigeria, who to approve or how these test would be done.

Nuhu said the government would be discussing with the airlines and countries involved.

“This will enable the PTF to have a clear and transparent process on determining who will do these test based on the requirement for accreditation by NCDC, National Laboratory Council, Lagos State Government for Lagos airport and FCT for Abuja airport,” he explained. (NAN)

By Yunus Yusuf

Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace has announced the resumption of flights into Dubai via Sharjah commencing from Feb. 5.

The Spokesperson of the airline, Mr Stanley Olisa, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Olisa said that the airline had also increased its flight frequency to and out of Enugu.

He stated that the Dubai via Sharjah service would be operated once a week.

“We are delighted to announce that we shall be resuming flights to Dubai via Sharjah on Feb. 5 and passengers can start booking on the website or the mobile app.

“Lagos-Dubai will operate on Fridays while Dubai-Lagos will be on Saturdays,” Olisa said.

He added that the flight frequency would be increased subsequently depending on observed passenger traffic.

“We urge our esteemed passengers to comply with all established COVID-19 protocols guiding international air travel,” he said.

Olisa added that “These new flights are in response to popular demand and a reflection of our resolve to reduce the air transportation burden of Nigerians.”

The New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Air Peace launched its second international route-South Africa- in Dec. 2020, with other international destinations in the offing, such as Mumbai-India, Guangzhou-China, Houston-US and London. (NAN)