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 today 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 on 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 clear 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.
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