FLIGHT DIVERSION: FG TO SPEND 1.1 BILLION ON LOGISTICS...

The Federal Government has earmarked N1.1billion as cost of logistics and security during the six weeks period when flights would be diverted from Abuja to Kaduna Airport, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said yesterday.

Briefing senators on the planned closure of Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, Sirika said the amount would be spent on security, transportation and others.


He said of the N1.1bn, the Nigerian Railway Corporation will get N103million, Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), N237million, Police N358million, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) N29million and Ministry of Transport (Bus services), N84million.

PRESIDENT BUHARI EXPRESSES REGRET AS BAD WEATHER DISRUPTS TRIP TO BAUCHI

President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Bauchi scheduled to take place December 29 has been postponed arising from the prevailing weather conditions in the country.

Uncooperative weather which has been the bane of air travel in the current harmattan season, leading to the delay and cancellation of flights, reared its head in Abuja Airport this morning, preventing the take-off of the President’s plane for the trip to Bauchi.

Technical information received from the weather station showed that visibility as at this morning was 600 meters, 200 metres short of the 800 metres minimally required for a safe aircraft take-off.

According to the information available, the visibility was expected to drop to 300 metres before improving to permissible limit later in the day.

FG DEMOTES DIRECTOR ON GL17 TO GL10 IN AVIATION SECTOR CLEANSING

•40 GMs, deputy GMs affected

The long-awaited cleansing in the country’s aviation sector may have finally started as information filtered into the sector, on Saturday that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Transport, has downgraded over 40 General Managers and deputy general managers at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has recently complained about the huge number of general managers in FAAN, declaring that he could not work with such a huge size.

Following the decision to downgrade some top personnel at FAAN, a particular staff member formerly placed on level 17 was demoted to level 10 and redeployed to another department in the same organization.