The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, on Friday said the Federal Government plans to spend huge sum of money on infrastructure upgrade at airports across the country.
Sirika, who made this known during the opening of the Legend Hotel Lagos Airport Curio Collection by Hilton, at the Lagos airport, disclosed that the Federal Government would also go ahead with the concession of major international airports in the country.
He said, “The Federal Government would spend huge sum of money in improving infrastructure at the airports especially the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. I will like to say that within few months, in the first quarter of next year, A380 aircraft would be landing in Nigeria.
We have facilities to receive such an airplane. This year before the end of this October, we would be opening the terminal in Port Harcourt which is ready even to the apron operations. We will also be opening the terminal in Abuja. They would be ready for operations.
“We noted our brothers in Ghana Accra who opened their terminal and it is well celebrated on Twitter. And I think the Twitter will not have a space to handle once we open Abuja and Port Harcourt this October. And of course there are many other terminals we will open.
“And because we are social democrats in nature and as APC which is the government in power we do not intend to cede the assets completely to private hands. We intend to give it out through concession for a period of 20, 25 or 30 years in such a way that they would be run very well and very efficiently and for the private sector to make their money and for us to get the services that we need as we are leaving the country.”
He noted that the country had huge potential in aviation waiting to be harnessed, owing to its population.
