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Govs shun Lagos airport presidential wing

Murtala Muhammed International AirportMurtala Muhammed International Airport

State governors and other Very Important Personalities who are by law allowed to pass through the Presidential Wing of the nation’s flagship airport, the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, have abandoned the facility, investigation has shown.

Sources at the Presidential Wing told SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday that majority of the VIPs, especially state governors, now patronise new private terminals at the airport, a development they said was unusual.

Those authorised to use the wing are the President, Vice-President, Senate president, Speaker of the House of Representatives, sitting governors and their deputies.

They also include former governors, former presidents and visiting foreign head of states.

While the Presidential Wing is being deserted, the private VIP terminals are busy and flourishing, heavily patronised by state governors, according to findings by SUNDAY PUNCH.

Airport officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter, said each of the private jet terminals often called Fixed Base Operator was now hosting the state governors and other VIPs.

One of the top officials said, “We don’t know what is going on. For several months now, all the state governors have not been passing through the Presidential Wing. Most of them are using the private jet terminals located at the Lagos airport.

“The Presidential Wing here used to be very busy, full of activities with the passages of the VIPs, especially the governors. But now, we only see them using Execujet Hangar/ Private Jet Terminal, Caverton Private Jet Terminal, Evergreen Apple Nigeria Private Jet Terminal, Aero Terminal, Concord Terminal and so on.”

Some industry observers believe the modern facilities and cosy environment as well as the international standard of the modern private jet terminals might have combined to form a major attraction for the governors.

But some security sources at the airport said a directive from the Presidency sometime ago, requesting Air Traffic Controllers to get clearance from the Military Airport Commandant before allowing aircraft conveying VIPs, including state governors, to make use of the Presidential Wing was responsible for the current situation.

The source said, “Sometime ago, there was a directive asking Air Traffic Controllers on duty to get clearance from the Military Airport Commandant before giving permission to any aircraft carrying a VIP to make use of the Presidential Wing apron.

“The Military Airport Commandant is also expected to get clearance from the Presidency before granting such approval. I think the process has some political undertone and this is why some governors, especially those of the opposition party have decided to boycott the place. But for governors in the ruling party, I don’t know why they are not making use of the place.”

The security source, however, noted that one VIP who was still making use of the Presidential Wing with unfettered access despite the bottlenecks was former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It was also leant that Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State occasionally used the wing when going to Abuja.

A source at Execujet said on Friday, “We see governors from the South-South,  South-West, South East and the North who used to frequent the Presidential Wing are now passing through private jet terminals on regular basis.”

Findings also showed that private jet terminals belonging to Execujet, Caverton and Evergreen at the Lagos Airport were recording frequent passages by state governors.

“There is no week, you will not see governors convoys in any of these private jet terminals here at Lagos airport. Most of the private terminals receive at least two governors in a week. These are governors that used to pass through the Presidential Wing.”

Airport officials also noted that the run-up period to the general elections usually witnessed increased activities of private jet business as politicians often moved from one part of the country to another to hold political meetings.

Analysts have said private jet operators are set to rake in billions of dollars from politicians as the nation prepares for 2015 general elections.

A number of state governors, especially from the South-South geo-political zone now own their private jets.

Politicians had spent N2.52bn on charter flights within 10 weeks preceding the April 2011 elections, according to investigation by The PUNCH.

The politicians, it was learnt, used the charter flights to move from one campaign venue to the other as the April elections closed in.

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Posted by on Jan 12 2014. Filed under Governors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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