Aviation ministry denies flights’ approval for five governors

Faith Yahaya, Abuja

FIVE governors’ requests for flights’ approvals were denied by the Ministry of Aviation since the closure of the airports to check the spread of COVID-19, Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika said on Tuesday.

Sirika spoke at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

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The minister said three of the five governors are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Two, according to the minister, are from the Southeast; two are from the Southsouth, and one is from Northcentral.

Sirika added that 98 per cent of the flights approved since the lockdown was COVID-19 related.

He said: “Every single flight that we approved and will approve will be an essential flight and 98 per cent of the essential flight will be connected to COVID-19.

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“A few of them, maybe 1percent may be either repatriation, request from the diplomatic community which must go through foreign affairs, or repatriation due to illness of another kind which will be medical-kind and those evacuations will also need a stamp of a teaching hospital.

“However, I want to share with you a discussion I had on twitter with someone when I said we will not be able to open our airport and airspace as a result of the extension of the lockdown for normal operations and someone said: ‘Kindly stop all the VIPs shuttle going on. It makes no sense to lock citizens up and allow governors to stroll in and out of Abuja. In the first instance, they carried this virus into Nigeria and now running around is not Okay.’ I said to the person that I agree with him but whatever is approved or whoever is approved to fly privately, governor or no governor is on an essential flight and it is addition and 98 per cent is related to COVID-19.

“There is no exception to governors. I have denied several of such flights, including two governors from Southsouth, two from Southeast and by the way, three of them are members of the APC and I think one is from Northcentral.

“For a flight to be approved, it shows that it is diligently done. It must be essential, COVID-19 related or other essential flights like cargo that will bring in medicines or equipment or other things related to COVID-19 or our whole wellbeing like food.

“Please trust us and bear with us for this period but it will end soon by God’s grace.”

On some flights flying around Abuja on Tuesday afternoon, he said: “I think it is occasioned by information dished out by the Nigerian Air Force that they will be carrying out flying activity this week to mark their week and I think what you see is the flight rehearsal.”

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