Kebbi did not sell Ahmadu Bello International Airport - Commissioner

Kebbi did not sell Ahmadu Bello International Airport – Commissioner

Abiodun OBA

Kebbi State government did not sell the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Kebbi contrary to rumour.

Kebbi State Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Abubakar Ladan, made the disclosure to newsmen on Thursday in Birnin Kebbi.

Ladan explained that rather, it was taken over by The Federal Government being an exclusive item.

The commissioner said, “There is no iota of truth in the rumour going round that the state government is planning to sell the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport to a private individual.

“All the airports in the country are on the exclusive list. There is no way any state government can convert them as their own or sell them to individuals,’’ the commissioner said.

Ladan explained that the federal government had taken over 10 of such airports after their completion by state governments.

He said: “The airports include those of Ekiti, Gombe, Anambra, Nassarawa, Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi and Benue States, among others.

“I don’t know how the story came about that the airport (Sir Ahamdu Bello International Airport) had been sold.

“Who was it sold to? I want to use this occasion to tell you the true story of the airport.

“The aviation sector is in the exclusive list and any state that wants to construct an airport must get a clear approval from the federal government.

“So, once you construct the airport, you only have the manager, but the technical crew handling the airport is federal government’s staff and those of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“You do not have the right to regulate the airport. We only agreed to allow the federal government to take over the airport because of management issue and other things.

“It is not the issue of sales; federal government took over the airport of Kebbi State and we demanded that the amount we used to construct it be refunded to the state.”

President Muhammadu Buhari, the commissioner said, had approved the refund of N16 billion to the state government, being the amount spent to construct the airport.