Revealed: How Uduaghan Paid $100m Bribe To Aviation Officials To Cover Up Safety Concerns Over Asaba Airport

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Dr.-Emmanuel-UduaghanDespite sinking N27 billion into Asaba ‘International’ Airport, Delta State Government paid millions of dollars to Aviation officials to hide safety issues raised at the airport.

Pilots operating at the airport wrote several reports about the undulating nature of the airport runway and its impact on aircraft in reports submitted to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

The government also claimed to have spent additional N7 billion to clear a hill around the airport which posed a huge risk to aircraft and air travellers.

The hill has not been fully evacuated in conformity with international standards.

The Infra News gathered that several inspection teams from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) were compromised in several reports submitted to the Ministry of Aviation, returning a “safe” report after receiving $10,000.00 on each occasion from the state government.

“In spite of the billions sunk into this project, the airport tower belongs in the last 30 years. There is no escape route in a fire incident. Those caught up will need to bail out.

“The fire engines are not working at full capacity and the danger is that air passengers will roast to death in a fire incident in the absence of functional fire engines”, a minority report which was not initially adopted, said.

Former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, had detailed several inspection teams to the state with the mandate to produce a final report that would determine whether the airport should be shut or not.

“Many of the teams returned “safe” reports after receiving $10,000.00 on several occasions”, the report obtained by The Infra News said.

“A heavy refuse dump around the airport is a nest for birds with the capacity to fly into aircraft engines and cause crash.

“Aviation officials that inspected the airport and gave approvals were given $10,000 dollars to cover up deficiencies.

“Areas pointed out by risk and safety reports were not adhered to”, an insider, familiar with the airport project, revealed.

“The runway is still a one track runway, planes land and take off from the same direction, still not sufficient to allow large planes to take off. Still because of the hill, large planes will have to get to Awka to turn before landing. Safety assessment report was ignored.

“Pilots have in their private reports submitted to NAMA lamented bumb-like effect on runway and its negative impact on aircraft.

The development had forced the Ministry of Aviation to downgrade the airport last week.

“With the downgrading, which takes immediate effect, the airport will now be allowed to accommodate the operation of only Dash 8-Q 400 aircraft or its equivalent until all the safety issues are addressed.

“It has, therefore, become a matter of serious concern that despite a series of meetings with, and assurances given by the operators of the airport, the Delta State Government, no concrete step has been taken to address the issues, which are capable of compromising the safety of flight operations and, of course, the passengers.

“The violations are in respect of the airport runway and its associated facilities as well as adequately trained personnel,” the ministry said in the statement.

Source: theinfrastructurenewsng.com

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