The Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika disclosed that the federal government has channeled more than N100 billion into the aviation sector.
Sirika disclosed this at an event tagged ‘The challenges of COVID-19 pandemic to the Nigerian Aviation industry: The path to recovery.’
The minister who was represented by the Minister of State, Science, and Technology, Mohammed Abdullahi, said that the funds that have been funneled into the aviation sector by the government were in a bid to drive growth in the industry.
He noted that since 2015, when the injection of the sum began, a number of airports in the country had been left unattended due to a lack of funds.
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Sirika said, “The government deployed resources to equipping state governments through various interventions. From 2015 till date, the federal government has deployed over N100 billion to develop the aviation sector.
“When this government came on board in 2015, there were several airport projects that were abandoned basically because of lack of fund and because of arguments over contractual obligations. So the government evaluated some of these challenges and committed funds towards them.
“These funds were used for airports upgrade, procurement of equipment, training of staff, settling of relevant emolument, navigation equipment, weather equipment, and so many others. It was a whole industry intervention.”