President Bola Tinubu has urged the House of Representatives to grant concurrent approval to the Federal Government for the refund of N24 billion to Nasarawa and Kebbi states for the takeover of the airports built by the two states.
In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Abbas Tajudeen, and read on the floor of the Green Chamber by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, during Thursday’s plenary, the President sought the House’s approval to refund over N15bn to the Kebbi State Government and N9bn to its Nasarawa counterpart.
Persecondnews reports that Kebbi State had earlier spent the money to construct the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, while the Nasarawa State Government spent N9bn for the construction of the Lafia Cargo Airport, Nasarawa.
According to the letter, President Tinubu said the federal government has taken over the control and ownership of the two airports, which necessitated reimbursement to the state governments.
The letter stated: “The House of Representatives is invited to note that at the Executive Council meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, which was held on the 23rd day of May 2023, it was approved as follows:
“That a promissory note in the sum of N9,000,542,651,786.11 be issued to the Nasarawa State Government as a refund for the takeover of the newly constructed Nasarawa Airport.
“The House of Representatives may wish to note that by the provisions of item three of the second schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, aviation, including airports, safety of aircraft, and carriage of passengers and goods by air, fall under the exclusive legislative list.
“The impact of this is that ownership, regulation, and control of airports in Nigeria are exclusive to the Federal Government.”
Tinubu urged the House to consider and grant concurrent approval for the establishment of the promissory note program for both states.
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