Sirika Promises to Resign If Deadline is Not Met for Abuja Airport Reopening

Senator Hadi Sirika the Minister of State for Aviation, in a meeting with Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos has said that he will resign his appointment in the Federal Government fails to meet up with the six-weeks deadline for the rehabilitation of the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Sirika said the level of work done in the first three weeks since the runway was closed on March 8, 2017, had shown that the work would be completed at the given date (April 19, 2017).

He further stated that the Kaduna airport was chosen to serve as an alternative to Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport was because it measured up to standard and security and safety measures that the the other airports around Abuja lacked.

He also noted that while the Minna airport is closer to Abuja, the road is a single lane, filled with potholes and along undulating topography and hills, adding that it is insecure and unsafe compared to Kaduna.
Besides, he said while there was immediate plan to rehabilitate the Kaduna-Abuja road, there was no plan to rebuild the Minna-Abuja road.

The minister added that he knew that the Abuja airport runway was bad even before he became the minister, noting that closing down the airport became inevitable when there was no other alternative to do a thorough and efficient rehabilitation.

“I knew the runway was bad before I became the minister. It was shown to me when I was a senator. It was a similar experience with Port Harcourt airport runway. The runway became so bad that it caved in. The airport was closed for two years. We cannot afford to close the Abuja airport for two year; that is why it became expedient that we do the job now. We are going to meet the deadline. Whatever work that would be done is going to be done without closing down the runway,” he said.