Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that with the level of work on the Kaduna International Airport, it may not be in a complete state of readiness by Wednesday.

The plans for Kaduna to handle Abuja flights have been met with scepticism. The airport handled just 12 flights in December 2015, the last month for which Nigeria’s airports authority has figures, compared to 812 at the Abuja airport.

Speaking after the inspection tour of the airport in company of Governor Nasiru El-Rufai and his deputy Bala Bantex on Friday in Kaduna, the Acting President added however, that the Federal Government expects that within a very short period of time the airport will be very usable and comfortable state.

“It is going to be completed over this weekend like the ceiling, air conditioning and all the security facilities. So we think that, it may not be in a complete state of readiness by Wednesday,” he said.

“The work has made considerable progress. Honestly, the work has made considerable progress but there is quite a beat to do,” he added.

He said one thing that is very clear, is that, not all foreign airlines declined to fly through the Kaduna airport.

“Some airlines are willing to come to Kaduna Airport, I just spoke with Ethiopia Airline and they are willing to come.

“I think that, foreign airlines will, but what we need to tell them is that obviously this a temporary arrangement and they should really work with us on the temporary arrangement,” the Acting President said.

Osinbajo said the Federal Government is also concerned about safety and comfort of passengers and all stakeholders.

“They are here also to see for themselves, I am sure you have seen some of them. So we will be happy if they work with us.

“If they see this as temporary and cope with the flight inconveniences here and there. So we are persuading them that this is a temporary arrangement,” he said.

Osinbajo said government has asked people working on the airport to speed up or double the number of people who are working on the ceiling and some other facilities.

“They certainly need to work much faster and much more diligently to be able to deliver on scheduled,” he said.

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