Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has disclosed that contractor handling one of the cargo terminals at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja is currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to him, the ministry had to approach EFCC, after the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, that the contractor be investigated and prosecuted.
Addressing the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation during a budget defence session on Tuesday, Sirika said, “There are two cargo projects in Abuja. One has been completely finished and will be commissioned by His Excellency Mr. President soon. The second one, the contract was given in 2012, the contractors were advanced money up to about 75%. These contracts were abandoned by the contractors.
“Mr. President directed that they be investigated, prosecuted and the monies recovered but because we don’t have prosecuting powers, we reported to EFCC, now in the last three and half years, they confirmed to me that they have finished the investigation. This is worrisome. We will inform the the House when we see EFCC and they brief us formally.”
The minister had prior to the disclosure, explained that Nigeria’s aviation sector recovered up to 110 percent after the impact of Covid-19, second to Columbia, adding that the federal government during the period offered interventions and incentives to also help indigenous airlines out, a move he noted helped in saving thousands of jobs.
According to him, the national carrier; Nigeria Air “will be commissioned soon”, stating that the airline will begin operation in the domestic airspace while efforts are on to obtaining approval for international operations. “Our focus will be on safety and service delivery”, he said.
The minister also informed the committee that cargo terminals at the nation’s international airports at Kano, Abuja and Lagos have been concessioned under the Nigeria Airports Concession Programme.
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman of the committee, Hon. Nnaji Nnolim, described the meeting as an important exercise, which was intended to obtain detail of implementation of the ministry’s past budgets, and it’s 2023 estimates, as well clarifications on the terminals slated for concession.
