The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has explained why the construction of the second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, remains stalled.
Speaking during his ministry’s budget defense before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation, led by Senator AbdulFatai Buhari, the Minister stated that the ministry would not accept a cost variation from the initial sum to ₦532 billion.
Checks by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the contract was awarded during the first tenure of the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, to a Chinese firm, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Nigeria Limited (CCECC), at an initial sum of ₦67 billion.
Further checks revealed that in the 2017 budget, ₦10 billion was allocated for the project, ₦8 billion was proposed in 2018, and ₦13 billion was allocated in 2019. The Buhari administration also allocated ₦14 billion for the project in 2021.
On the eve of the administration’s exit in May 2023, the Federal Executive Council approved ₦3.4 billion as a post-contract consultancy fee for the runway.
Keyamo told the lawmakers that the Federal Government would rather seek a fresh contract with a new firm.
He said: “The variation the contractors are proposing, I refuse to accept. From ₦90 billion to ₦532 billion within a space of two years to construct the second runway, this country can’t accept that variation. It would be unreasonable for us.
“We have two proposals from two other Chinese companies that I am taking to Mr. President.”
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Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory, asked the Minister to justify the establishment of the University of Aviation and Aerospace in Abuja when the University of Abuja already offers a course in aviation. Keyamo responded that the project was inherited from the previous administration.
“When we came into office, the university had already been established. We just continued with it. It is a specialized university. I believe the rationale is to pay special attention to the aviation industry rather than subsuming it under any university. It is meant to develop Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem,” he explained.
He also justified the decentralization of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology in Zaria, Kaduna State.
He said: “It is becoming difficult to accommodate all the students willing to enroll in the school. Rather than renting private houses and hotels, why not allow other zones to have campuses? It is one country. The states are happy with this arrangement.”
