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FG To Demolish Multibillion-Naira Lagos Private Jet Terminals For Airport Expansion

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The Federal Government has announced that it will demolish two multibillion-naira private jet terminals/aircraft hangars to make room for the expansion of Murtala Muhammed Airport’s recently launched international terminal in Lagos.

Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, made the revelation during an inspection of facilities at the Lagos airport on Thursday, saying the private jet terminals were impeding the expansion of the apron size of the new Chinese-built terminal, which is scheduled to open in March 2022.

According to him, the apron size of the new international terminal is not adequate to accommodate jumbo planes operating international routes.

Report has it that over 22 private jets belonging to some prominent Nigerians and organizations are expected to be relocated from the two multibillion-naira private jet terminals/hangars ahead of the demolition of the facilities.

The two private jet terminals belong to Dominion Air, an arm of Living Faith World Outreach (Winners Chapel), and Evergreen Hangar, owned and operated by a private company.

Keyamo emphasised the need to provide a better travelling experience for Nigerian passengers passing through the airport.

As a result, he said the old international terminal would be shut by October 1, while over 25 foreign airlines operating from the facility would be relocated to the new terminal.

The aviation minister said, “We have to find a way to use the new terminal. Like in many other countries, we have to get emergency procurement to buy big buses and move passengers to where the big planes can stop for both arrivals and departures so that Nigerians can have some form of comfort.

“The long-term plan is that, we are going to find a way to build avio-bridges for the big aircraft coming in and that means some of those private hangars will have to go for public purpose, we have to relocate them so that we can have a beautiful, functional gateway to Nigeria. For now, I am giving them till October 1 to shut down the old terminal so that we can use the new terminal.”

Keyamo declaration came barely four months after the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the two private jet terminals/hangars were obstructing the efficient use of the international wing of the airport.

As such, Sirika said the facilities would be demolished to pave the way for the expansion of the new international terminal built with Chinese loans.

He said, “Those two hangars, Dominion and Evergreen, will have to go and give way for our airport to be more efficient. We are not operating the Lagos airport at full capacity and it is household knowledge now, we have some obstructions that would be removed within the next one or two weeks, so that we can expand the apron; so that Lagos can have the full airport in full use to 100 per cent.”

However, Sirika could not carry out his threat until the end of the term on May 29.

Last year, the Federal Government had demolished the headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau located behind the new international terminal.

However, the government could not reportedly demolish other structures, especially the private jet hangars due to litigation concerns.  There are reports that the government may pay about N5bn in compensation if it will have to demolish the hangars and other buildings located behind the new MMIA terminal.

It is unclear whether there is litigation on the matter or whether the Federal Government and the owners of the hangar have entered an agreement on the issue.

Private jets reportedly belonging to Winners Chapel, GTBank, Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Church of God, and several business moguls currently make use of the two hangars.

However, the new aviation minister insisted that his concern was to get a better travelling experience for Nigerians.

Keyamo said, “The major complaint of Nigerians or foreigners coming into the country has been about the old terminal. That terminal is an eyesore. And we have this new terminal that the Chinese built. Nigerians have been asking why the new terminal is not put into use. The simple reason is that I don’t know how this new terminal was designed. It has a provision to take big planes. I don’t know how it happened. I’ve been asking questions about how they would design an international gateway like the Lagos terminal without a provision to take the big planes; it doesn’t have the avio-bridges that can link to the big planes.

He added, “That has been the reason why we have not been using this new terminal and that’s why Nigerians have been asking that question. Meanwhile, 60 percent of the revenue of FAAN comes from the Lagos airport. The Lagos gateway is one of the major gateways in the country. So what is the solution to this? We have said we must use what we have for now. I’m giving the international and all the other airlines up to October 1 to move from the old terminal to the new terminal. What we are going to do temporarily is that we are going to shut down the old terminal and sort out all the issues regarding the renovation of the old terminal.”

On the Nigerian Air project, the minister said he had suspended the project.

He said, “There are issues already on the ground before I came; concession and all of that. For now, I have suspended all of that until I brief the president as to what is happening regarding all those noises going on, including the issue of Nigeria Air. I have given them the directive to suspend everything until I brief Mr President fully.

“For now, the temporary arrangement we want to make, and for the comfort of Nigerians, we have to find a way to use the new terminal built by the Chinese even without the big planes coming in because there are no aviobridges for them to use and the gate bridge for the passengers to pass.  So like it’s done in many other countries we are going to do emergency procurement to buy the big buses. So we are going to put them in buses and move them to where the big planes stop in an orderly fashion, both the arrival and departure so that Nigerians can have some sort of comfort with this new facility.”

He added, “The long term plan is that we are going to find a way to build aviobridges for the big planes coming in and that means that some of those private hangars will have to go for public purpose. If we have to do anything for them, we will relocate them so that we can have a beautiful and functional gateway to Nigerians.”

However, the Assistant General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, while reacting said, “There were some discussions in the past which have led to litigation, coming in now, I thought the minister would have been patient. You don’t come in and take decisions like this, I am not a fan of demolition, I mean, a minister like him in the past was the one who failed to follow the master plan, not only in Lagos even in Abuja airport and that’s what has caused this problem. We have collected loan to build this terminal and it’s not yielding, we have a duty to recover money and pay those loans and the way to do that is for the terminal to work. Public officers should be made to face the consequences of actions that are inimical to the public.”

A former Military Commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Group Capt John Ojikutu (retd.), said, “I don’t have any problem with what the minister has said because everything built on that side shouldn’t have been there. That’s where MMA’s terminal three and four ought to be. Will the apron in the new terminal take all the airlines if operations at the old terminal are suspended? For how long would this be? Abuja is not as big as MMA, yet how many buses are operating and it’s not even as big as the international airport in Lagos.”

Another stakeholder who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “It’s not going to end well, the airport cannot expand to anywhere else. It’s not nice for people to want to destroy what others built. You say they would be relocated, have you prepared a place for them? The new terminal is poorly designed and cannot house the big aircrafts yet you want airlines to move there.”

 

Credit: The Punch

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BIG STORY

JUST IN: Warri Refinery Has Resumed Operations — NNPCL

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Barely a month after the commencement of operations at the 60,000-barrel-per-day-old Port Harcourt Refinery, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has announced that the 125,000-barrel-per-day Warri Refining & Petrochemicals Company in Warri, Delta State, is now operational.

This was disclosed by the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, during a tour of the facility on Monday.

A video posted by Channels TV on Monday showed Kyari addressing a tour team, which included the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed.

Before the tour commenced, Kyari explained that the inspection aimed to show Nigerians the level of work completed so far.

According to him, although the repairs on the facility are not yet 100 per cent complete, operations have commenced.

He said, “We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. Although it is not 100 per cent complete, we are still in the process. Many people think these things are not real. They think real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real.”

Located in Ekpan, Uwvie, and Ubeji, Warri, the petrochemical plant produces 13,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTA) of polypropylene and 18,000 MTA of carbon black.

Commissioned in 1978 and managed by NNPCL, the WRPC was built to supply markets in the southern and southwestern regions of Nigeria.

The mechanical completion of the facility was initially scheduled for the first quarter of 2024, according to the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye.

“Warri should be done by Q1 (first quarter) 2024,” Soneye stated.

The WRPC is one of Nigeria’s four refineries, alongside the old and new Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State.

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BIG STORY

Wike Slams Peter Odili, Says I Brought You Back To Life Politically

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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Sunday, strongly criticized ex-Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili, calling him a rent seeker and an ingrate for supporting the current Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

Wike was responding to Odili’s recent statement that Fubara stopped him (Wike) from turning Rivers into his personal estate.

According to a statement on Sunday from his media aide, Leke Olayinka, Wike made his remarks at a Special Thanksgiving Service organized by the factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, at the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Oro-Igwe/Eliogbolo Archdeaconry Church of the Holy Spirit, Eliozu Parish, Port Harcourt.

Wike, who labeled Odili an ingrate, recounted how he built a house for the former governor and mentioned that Odili also had some of his family members in government positions, turning Rivers into his private estate.

“Must you be a trader all the time? As governor for eight years, what else are you looking for? You know, I didn’t want to say anything. But somebody called me last night, and told me what someone said in the social media. I said until I read it myself. This morning, I read in the newspapers, what our former Governor, Sir Dr Peter Odili said.”

“What did he say? He said that the present governor has been able to stop one man who wanted to convert Rivers State to his personal estate. Between him and myself, who has turned Rivers State to his personal estate? His wife is a Chairman of Governing Council, his daughter is a commissioner, his other daughter is a judge and he is the general overseer. Who has now turned Rivers State to his private estate? I am sure if care is not taken, if there is a chance, he can even arrange a marriage for the governor.”

“In 2007 after he left office, he couldn’t come near power in the State because Amaechi was the governor then. He was gone! Like somebody said that God will use someone to lift up someone. When I came in as governor in 2015, I won’t use the word resurrected, but I brought him back to life,” Wike said.

The Minister also mentioned that Odili had previously praised him as being better than past governors in the state, asserting that the former Governor had reduced himself to a laughingstock.

“All of you here remember when I was governor, this same Odili praised me to high heaven. In fact, he said then that all past governors in Rivers State combined did not do better than me. Now, because you have organized a Christmas Carol for the governor, I didn’t say you should not do your Christmas Carol. But why reduce yourself to such a laughing stock? People will still see it on television how he was telling the whole world then how God used me to bring him back to life politically.”

“The governor that all of us made has not spent one year in office and the same Odili was already saying that the governor has beaten the records of all the past governors of Rivers State. When I was there, he said I had surpassed the records of all the past governors, including himself. What can he even show that he did in his eight years as governor? But a governor has not spent one year, you are saying he has done more than all the past governors.”

The Minister further emphasized that the former Governor had no significant accomplishments during his eight years in office. He added that Odili failed in his Presidential bid and opposed Fubara’s emergence as Governor of Rivers State.

“You spent eight years as governor and someone who hasn’t spent one year has surpassed your records, what manner of elder talks like that? Is that what an elder statesman should be known for?”

“When I was plotting who will be governor after me, was he (Odili) there? Then, he was complaining about this governor, saying that he couldn’t stand before the public to talk. But today, he is organizing Christmas Carol for the same governor he was against then.”

“He has forgotten all that he said in the past. I named this after you, I named that after your wife. What have I not done? This is a man who wanted to run for President then, he didn’t have the balls, he chickened out. Simply because Obasanjo said no, he will not contest, he ran away. Because of him, I never invited Obasanjo to Rivers State to inaugurate projects. I felt it would humiliate him,” Wike said.

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BIG STORY

Customs To Auction Seized Petrol At N400 Per Litre [PHOTOS]

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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will auction 15,325 litres of seized premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, to ease transportation during the festive period.

Hussein Ejibunu, national coordinator of the service’s Operation Whirlwind, made the announcement on Saturday at a press briefing held at the Customs Training College, Ikeja, Lagos State.

Ejibunu said the product, valued at N27.5 million, was seized during operations in Lagos and Ogun states.

He said Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of Customs, has directed that the products be auctioned at the rate of N10,000 per 25 litres.

The coordinator further said a court condemnation order and all legal processes have been finalised by the office of the legal adviser to facilitate the auctioning.

“This operation has been on since 27 May 2024 and has yielded positive results, as the CGC has urged the operatives to continue sustaining the tempo until the activities of these economic saboteurs are stamped out of this country,” Ejibunu said.

“On this note, the CGC has directed Auctions of the seized product to members of the public at the rate of N10,000 per 25 litres. This will ease the transportation hardship during this festive period.”

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