Benue State Among States To get New Airports

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said that 10 new airports will be constructed in different states across the country.

Sirika disclosed this to the Senate Committee on Aviation during his defence of the 2021 budget proposed by his ministry.

He said that the aviation sector had seen a rise in 2018, making it the "second-fast-growing sector of the economy".

He added that states included in the plan to build new airports are Benue, Nasarawa, Anambra, Ekiti, Ebonyi, and Gombe.

He said, “Consequent upon that roadmap, we have seen aviation grow in 2018 to become the second-fastest-growing sector of the economy.

“Also and by 2019, it became the fastest-growing sector of the economy and increased its GDP contribution.

“From 2015 till now, we’ve seen a lot of growth in civil aviation, the number of airports is increasing.

“So far, about seven airports have been added to the map, some of them completed, some of them under construction.

“There are airports coming up in Benue, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Lafia, Damaturu, Anambra, and so on.

“All these show that civil aviation is growing during this administration.

“So, we have about 10 new airports coming up, that is almost half the number of airports we used to have in Nigeria. 

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“We are adding 50 percent of the number of airports.

“We are on it. The transaction adviser has brought in the outline business case.

“It is being reviewed by Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Soon after it finishes, it will go to the Federal Executive Council and it will be approved.

“We will not leave this government without having it in place.

“Lokoja is an important northern town. It is a cosmopolitan town, it’s a mini Nigeria and it is extremely very important in growth and development of our country.

“We have a lot of agricultural activities there. There is fishery, there is perishable item production, and so on.

“So, establishing an airport there is quite apt. For me, it is something we should have done long ago for its importance.”