- Senate rejects Abuja airport closure, summons Amaechi, Fashola
President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, at plenary on Tuesday, announced Sen. Ahmed Lawan (APC-Yobe North) as Leader of the Senate.
Reading a letter from the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate Caucus dated January 10, Saraki said based on the letter, Sen Ali Ndume (APC-Borno South) was no longer the leader of the senate.
He further stated that “a letter from the APC Senate Caucus dated January 10, His Excellency, the President of the Senate, notice of change of leadership.
“This is to inform your Excellency and the senate that after several meetings held on Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 and upon due deliberations and consultations, the APC caucus of the senate wishes to notify you of the change in the leadership of the senate.
“The new senate leader is now Senator Ahmed Lawan, representing Yobe North Senatorial District, Yobe State.’’
In his reaction, Ndume expressed shock at his removal as the leader of the senate.
He said he had no prior information with regard to the development, adding that the announcement of his removal was made when he stepped out of the chamber.
“I was leading the business of the senate and I asked Bala Ibn N’Allah to sit in for me to pray and on coming back the session ended.
“I didn’t know that there was a change because I went to pray. I don’t know if I am no longer the senate leader.
“I was not invited for any meeting. There should be a procedure. The announcement came to me as a surprise, I can’t tell you more than that.”
Ndume said he was not sure if his removal was as a result of his position on Ibrahim Magu’s non-confirmation as Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He promised to speak to newsmen on the development.
The APC in a mock election on June 6, 2015, adopted Sen. Ahmed Lawan as President of the Senate.
However, Saraki emerged President of the Senate at the inauguration of 8thNational Assembly on June 9, 2015, while Ndume emerged as the leader of the senate.
Until his emergence as the leader of the senate, Lawan was Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence.
In the meantime, the Senate on Tuesday rejected the planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for the repairs of its runway and the diversion of flights to the Kaduna airport.
The lawmakers summoned the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, and heads of aviation agencies.
Those summoned were asked to appear before the Senate Committee on Aviation within 48 hours “to provide details on the planned closure as well as to explore other options that can avoid a total closure of the airport.”
The Senate acted on a motion titled, ‘The planned closure of the Abuja airport’; which was moved by Senator Hope Uzodinma (lmo West). Also, the motion had senators Ike Ekweremadu (Enugu West), Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South); Abdullahi Gumel (Jigawa North-West); Fatima Raji-Rasaki (Ekiti Central); and Baba Garbai (Borno Central) as co-sponsors.
Uzodinma, while moving the motion, said the Senate noted that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria planned to close the Abuja airport for six weeks, beginning from March 6, 2017, to carry out repairs on the only runway at the airport.
The senator stated, “The Senate is worried that a six-week outright closure of a major and the only airport in the nation’s federal capital can trigger untold hardship on international and local air travellers and consequently dent the nation’s image.
“It is concerned that a complete shutdown of the airport will impact negatively on international trade and related activities, with a multiplier effect that can exert further pressure on an already recessed national economy.
“The Senate is aware of the logistics and security challenges the diversion of Abuja-bound flights to Kaduna will throw up, including endangering the lives and properties of international and local air travellers, who will be forced to travel by land from Kaduna to Abuja.”
Uzodinma said the Senate was sure that all the options had not been exhausted to avoid the shutdown of the only airport in the capital for six weeks, “including the option of a technical package to allow skeletal air operations at the airport while most repair work on the runway is executed at night.” He said the Senate was aware that major repairs in the past had been carried out without the closure of the airport, noting that one more major repair without closure would afford the government the needed time for the construction of a second runway as a permanent solution.
“The Senate is determined to explore all other possible options that can avert the planned total closure of a strategic national port as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport for six weeks with all its attendant consequences, including the breach of international conventions and treaties,” Uzodinma stated. Senate President Bukola Saraki, who presided over the plenary, criticised the planned closure.
He said, “Where else in the world are things done this way? The idea of total closure of the Abuja airport is not the best option. Therefore, the Senate Aviation Committee should meet with the relevant ministers and heads of aviation agencies within the next two days for an alternative option and report back to the Senate within a week for final decision over the matter.”
Upshot with additional report from The Citizen
