Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has appealed to the Federal Government to fix Minna Airport to safe the country from impending national embarrassment.
He made the appeal when he led a team of political leaders from the state to pay the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Friday.
The governor who said he was in the Senate to seek for the support of the National Assembly for the competition of Minna-Suleja Road, the abandoned terminal wing of Minna Airport and the road network to Baro Inland Port by the federal government
He argued that the fixing of Minna Airport, which requires less than N300 million would have given the country another alternative to Kaduna airport and provide airline operators opportunity to choose while the rehabilitation works on Abuja airport lasted.
The governor maintained that Niger state was not opposed to the selection of Kaduna airport, but noted that the Minna airport has more comparative advantages over the preferred airport.
“Minna is a natural alternative to Nmandi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. It is nearer to Abuja and has a better run-way than Kaduna Airport.
“With the controversies the selection of Kaduna airport is already generating with airline operators, we need to fix Minna airport, being the closest to the capital airport, give airline operators alternatives to choose from and safe the country national embarrassment.
“From what I am seeing in the way we are handling the rehabilitation of capital airport, if not carefully plan, we are heading for national embarrassment,” Gov. Sani Bello cautioned.
