By Henry Umoru

ABUJA- THE National Assembly and the Appropriations Committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives have kick started the construction of second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by injecting N15 billion into the 2017 budget to kick start the construction process, while the Ministry of Transport would take over the procurement process thereafter.

The measure, according to sources close to the National Assembly was to forestall any future closure of the Airport as experienced from March 8 to April 19.

Sources in the National Assembly said that following discussions between the Appropriations Committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as follow up meetings between the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly, it has been agreed that the National Assembly should kick start the process of constructing the Second Runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

The source said,”To prevent the type of closure that happened to Abuja Airport recently, which led to loss of huge revenues by the government as well as airlines, the National Assembly has decided to end such haemorrhage and prepare ahead for the future. To start the process without any further delay, the National Assembly has projected the sum of N15 billion into the 2017 budget as take-off funds.”

Construction of the Second Runway at the Abuja Airport ran into bad weather during the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua over the cost of the runway.

The N63 billion quoted as the amount for completion of the job was seen as outrageous and vehemently protested against by some members of the House of Representatives.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who inherited the argument in 2010, when he took over from the late Yar’Adua cancelled the runway project on the basis of the huge cost. Though a new figure was yet to be arrived at by the incumbent government, it was learnt that the National Assembly has already taken the initiative to inject take off funds into the 2017 budget.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had also on March 22, during a tour of the Kaduna Airport told newsmen that the Federal Government was looking to the construction of the second runway within the next 24 hours.

His statement presupposes that the executive and the legislature have had exploratory discussions on the issue.

The Minister was quoted as telling newsmen on March 22: “There is a plan by government to squeeze in within the 2017 budget to have a second runway in Abuja. However, we need to learn from previous mistakes. Since 1995, I, as a person, has been campaigning for a second runway in Abuja because of safety and to make the airport more efficient. But it fell on deaf ears.

“We were lucky during the time of (the late) President UmaruYar’Adua that the government saw reason as to why there should be a second runway. But this idea was condemned, with people saying that the money was too much. Alternatively, you would have campaigned against the cost, but support the project.

So kill the cost, don’t kill the project. “So, yes there will be a second runway in Abuja.

Hopefully, within the next 24 months we will have a new runway. There is a second runway in Kano, a military runway; a second runway in Lagos and a second runway in Port Harcourt. So, they have second runways and I think the focus of government now within the limited resources is to do a second runway in Abuja. “The remaining work, during the concession process, if we need additional runway, the man who wins the concession should be able to give us the additional runway.”

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/senate-reps-kick-start-second-runway-abuja-airport/

Please guys think about how crazy this is. Abuja is the 2nd busiest airport in the country. It's the capital airport and used frequently by our president and only has one runway. They been dragging feet since 1995 on this issue. No wonder flights are getting delayed. Where do you land when it gets this busy.

How exactly did Yar’Adua administration get to N63 billion naira figure. Project inflation is too crazy. I'm surprised they could be politicians meet in the middle or something. N15 billion and 24 months let them get on it ASAP. This 2017 budget needs to pass.

Now the NASS is getting some senses. Something that has been long over due...

No padding again

So pass the budget

Blue3k:
Please guys think about how crazy this is. ABuhari is the 2nd busiest airport in the country. It's the capital airport and used frequently by our president and only has one runway. They been dragging feet since 1995 on this issue. No wonder flights are getting delayed. Where do you land when it gets this busy.

How exactly did Yar’Adua administration get to N63 billion naira figure. Project inflation is too crazy. I'm surprised they could be politicians meet in the middle or something. N15 billion and 24 months let them get on it ASAP. This 2017 budget needs to pass.

XerXers:

Good catch

Nice development,this is the kind of budgets we want to see.I hope the budget gets 100% implementation.

Blue3k:
Please guys think about how crazy this is. Abuja is the 2nd busiest airport in the country. It's the capital airport and used frequently by our president and only has one runway. They been dragging feet since 1995 on this issue. No wonder flights are getting delayed. Where do you land when it gets this busy.

How exactly did Yar’Adua administration get to N63 billion naira figure. Project inflation is too crazy. I'm surprised they could be politicians meet in the middle or something. N15 billion and 24 months let them get on it ASAP. This 2017 budget needs to pass.

”To prevent the type of closure that happened to Abuja Airport recently, which led to loss of huge revenues by the government as well as airlines, the National Assembly has decided to end such haemorrhage and prepare ahead for the future....."

ABUJA AIRPORT DOES NOT NEED A NEW RUNWAY! Rather it needs proper maintenance as is dine in reasonable countries of the world. To prevent kind of closure that happened recently at the Abuja airport, we need to imbibe a maintenance culture for once in our lives, not a new extravagant runway in an airport with relatively negligible traffic. Heathrow airport for instance has probably 1000 times more traffic than Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, but heathrow has just 2 runways.

With proper air traffic management and good maintenance, 1 runway is more than sufficient for the Abuja airport and that N15billion could be used to fix other international airports in the country dying for attention. Enugu airport still has crater sized potholes, the PH airport still has no buildings.

obailala:


”To prevent the type of closure that happened to Abuja Airport recently, which led to loss of huge revenues by the government as well as airlines, the National Assembly has decided to end such haemorrhage and prepare ahead for the future....."

ABUJA AIRPORT DOES NOT NEED A NEW RUNWAY! Rather it needs proper maintenance as is dine in reasonable countries of the world. To prevent kind of closure that happened recently at the Abuja airport, we need to imbibe a maintenance culture for once in our lives, not a new extravagant runway in an airport with relatively negligible traffic. Heathrow airport for instance has probably 1000 times more traffic than Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, but heathrow has just 2 runways.

With proper air traffic management and good maintenance, 1 runway is more than sufficient for the Abuja airport and that N15billion could be used to fix other international airports in the country dying for attention. Enugu airport still has crater sized potholes, the PH airport still has no buildings.

You're right. Gatwick International is far, far busier than any Nigerian airport, yet it operates as a single-runway airport. The real problem with both the Abuja and Lagos airports is abysmal management, which in both cases would easily be solved by simply selling the airports off to international consortia with express running such facilities. Both Heathrow and Gatwick are privately-owned, so what justification can there be for the Nigerian government to retain ownership of Lagos and Abuja airports?

obailala:


”To prevent the type of closure that happened to Abuja Airport recently, which led to loss of huge revenues by the government as well as airlines, the National Assembly has decided to end such haemorrhage and prepare ahead for the future....."

ABUJA AIRPORT DOES NOT NEED A NEW RUNWAY! Rather it needs proper maintenance as is dine in reasonable countries of the world. To prevent kind of closure that happened recently at the Abuja airport, we need to imbibe a maintenance culture for once in our lives, not a new extravagant runway in an airport with relatively negligible traffic. Heathrow airport for instance has probably 1000 times more traffic than Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, but heathrow has just 2 runways.

With proper air traffic management and good maintenance, 1 runway is more than sufficient for the Abuja airport and that N15billion could be used to fix other international airports in the country dying for attention. Enugu airport still has crater sized potholes, the PH airport still has no buildings.

Agreed on the maintenance culture. That could be done by simply listening to managers who are supposed to be telling president or senate committee on these developments. The might end up running both of the runways into ground.

Using the cash on Enugu or Portharcourt would be nice. Portharcourt is tragedy. I just wonder what happened to contract. The started and forgot about it.

I personally see nothing wrong havin multiple runways. DFW has multiple but it is much busier. Management core issue.

omohayek:
Both Heathrow and Gatwick are privately-owned, so what justification can there be for the Nigerian government to retain ownership of Lagos and Abuja airports?

Wow at this rate Nigeria will put everything in free market hands. They already do this with some of the Ports. They simply don't take these assets seriously. If you guys ever drive into Uyo airport you pay fee to enter. I notice thiers only 1 lane entering and 3 people in both. They hand us our change no receipt. This how they manage airport in my place.

omohayek:

You're right. Gatwick International is far, far busier than any Nigerian airport, yet it operates as a single-runway airport. The real problem with both the Abuja and Lagos airports is abysmal management, which in both cases would easily be solved by simply selling the airports off to international consortia with express running such facilities. Both Heathrow and Gatwick are privately-owned, so what justification can there be for the Nigerian government to retain ownership of Lagos and Abuja airports?

Absolutely no justification bro... The Nigerian government has absolutely no business running anything itself.

omohayek:

You're right. Gatwick International is far, far busier than any Nigerian airport, yet it operates as a single-runway airport. The real problem with both the Abuja and Lagos airports is abysmal management, which in both cases would easily be solved by simply selling the airports off to international consortia with express running such facilities. Both Heathrow and Gatwick are privately-owned, so what justification can there be for the Nigerian government to retain ownership of Lagos and Abuja airports?

Security reasons
National pride
Constitution, ...need I go on?

blackpanda:


Security reasons
National pride
Constitution, ...need I go on?

1. I fail to see how our airports could possibly be less secure than they are now, with their staff more concerned with shaking down arrivals for bribes than performing any supposed "security" function. Private operators would waste no time in firing such parasites, and in replacing them with people who actually want to do their jobs. Does any Nigerian airport even come close to the security of the many privately run European ones?

2. As they say, pride goeth before a fall. I would rather have a little less pride and properly functioning, attractive airports, which are places one looks forward to going instead of dreading. The private ownership of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted doesn't seem to have affected British national pride for the worse, especially seeing as Gatwick is actually run by a consortium headed by a Nigerian (Adebayo Ogunlesi). If anything, the state of our airports is a source of shame, not pride: the very first sight so many foreigners get of Nigeria is of chaos, incompetence and rampant corruption, with airport security staff openly asking "Oga, wetin you bring us?"

3. I don't see anything in the constitution that would obstruct selling off the airports, especially seeing as some of the seaports are already in semi-private management. If you know of such legislation, feel free to point it out.

The senate is supposed to send proposal for the construction to the Ministry of Aviation and Works.

It is these ministries that will then award the contract and send the cost to NASS.

They are always dabbling into areas beyond their mandate.

If the people at the helms don't know their onions, they can even say they want to be the ones to award the contract as they are the ones that put it in the budget.

What they should have done is to advice the ministries concerned to send the proposal to the NASS, and they add it to the budget.

obailala:
Absolutely no justification bro... The Nigerian government has absolutely no business running anything itself.

thought I saw in the news they ve been concessioned.

NOETHNICITY:
thought I saw in the news they ve been concessioned.

I think that was only a 'plan'