The Federal Government has budgeted the sum of N1billion for the construction of new terminal building at Enugu Airport.

The government also budgeted that it would expend at least another N390million for the completion of new headquarters for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in Abuja.

These were contained in the 2019 budgeted submitted by the Federal Government to the National Assembly last December.

According to the document, the sum would be expended on the construction of new terminal building alone.

It would be recalled that Enugu Airport was in the news for most part of 2018, following the inability of FAAN to install the Instrument Landing System (ILS) procured for the airport.

The Federal Government has announced it will demolish more structures to give way for full internationalisation of Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu.

The government had said that for the new ILS to be installed, it would need to demolish more structures to give way for full internationalisation of Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu.

Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of State for Aviation, had disclosed this after a facility inspection around the airport.

Sirika said the Federal Government had released N1.7billion for construction work to continue at the international wing of the airport, noting that more money would be made available when the 2018 budgetary provision was released for completion of work.

But, the project, which was marked “ongoing” in the 2019 budget proposal to the National Assembly was also included in the 2019 budget.

But, rather than the N1.7billion announced for the project in March 2018, the government proposed N1,008,722,145 in this year’s budget.

Apart from this, the government also proposed additional N390million for the completion of ongoing new headquarters for FAAN in Abuja.

Senator Sirika, the Minister of State for Aviation had in July 2018 inaugurated a project team for the construction of the proposed new office complex and staff quarters for FAAN in Abuja.

Sirika had lamented that FAAN that had the mandate of building and managing airports in the country did not have a befitting office complex in the federal capital.

He had said that the decision to construct the office complex and residential quarters was through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, which he said was to ensure that what would be delivered would be of a high quality that represented value for money.

Besides, in the 2019 budget, the government also proposed the sum of N306.4m for the construction of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.

In the budget proposal, the government also submitted that it would expend the sum of N325.5million for the fabrication and installation of conveyor belts at Enugu and Port Harcourt Airports, which it also said was ongoing.

Also, the government proposed N192.2million for the production and installation of information desk at Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port-Harcourt and Enugu Airport, which is ongoing.

•Sourced from a Daily Independent report

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