In the midst of the controversy surrounding the Federal Government’s plan to relocate the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, from Abuja to Lagos, Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has proclaimed that the decision is final.
The minister spoke on Wednesday when he appeared on Channels TV programme, Politics Today.
It was reported that Senator Ali Ndume from Borno South as well as chieftains of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Northern Elders Forum, NEF, and other northern groups had kicked against the moves.
According to them, the relocation of FAAN headquarters and some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to Lagos was an attempt to marginalise the north.
But addressing the controversy, Keyamo simply said, “We are going ahead. The directive has been given.”
Keyamo said the whole issue was compounded with the fact that FAAN is not yet digitalised and so, in one year, they spend half a billion naira on a flight ticket between Lagos and Abuja alone.
“You see them flying every day to and fro Abuja to get one file signed. They fly every day, back and forth. In one year, they spent close to half a billion naira on flight tickets. N450 million on flight tickets alone,” he said.
