Audit of airports underway as governor rues state of Kaduna airport

The Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has described the Kaduna International Airport as an eyesore and called on the federal government to fix it.

He spoke during a visit to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, even as the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had plans to audit all the airports in the country.

Daily Trust reports that the Kaduna Airport is one of the international airports in Nigeria with no fewer than six domestic airlines operating there before it was shut down over a year ago.

The federal government had in 2017 invested over N2bn to upgrade the airport to accommodate the diversion of flights from Abuja following the repair of the runway.

However, the investment is rotting away as the airport has remained dormant for almost one and half years after a bandits’ attack.

But in what would be a relief for air passengers in that axis, Air Peace has fixed October 23, to resume flights to the state.

The governor is, however, seeking the federal government’s intervention to fix the airport.

“The airport is an eyesore, no aircraft is landing there at the moment, that’s why I had to make this trip to your office so we can know what to do,”, the governor told the minister, according to a statement by Keyamo’s aide, Tunde Moshood.

“Right now, I have spoken to Air Peace and United Airline on the possibility of resuming flight operations at the airport, but we found out there’s a need to upgrade and improve some of the facilities for effective aeronautical services,” the governor added.

Keyamo promised that the airport would be given a priority, saying, “It is very important that we make the Kaduna Airport fully operational because it is a good alternative to the Abuja airport should anything happen. So, I am promising you that I’ll give it priority in weeks to come.”

Meanwhile, the Director General of NCAA, Capt Musa Nuhu, told newsmen in Lagos that the audit of all airports would be carried out soon and that any of the airports found deficient would be grounded.

On Kaduna, Nuhu noted that the issue largely bothered on insecurity, saying information at his disposal revealed that the security situation had improved for safe flight operations.

He further said, “I think the challenge there is more of security, but the situation has improved significantly and we will certainly look at the facilities at the airport.

“After this audit, in fact, we are going to check all the airports; it’s not only the international airports; all the airports in Nigeria, we are going to audit them and see their situations. Any airport that has a deficiency, it will be grounded to the level of status they are and that is the way they are.”

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