NNPP: Ogun gubernatorial candidate, Ajadi rates airlines’ maintenance capacity below average

Ogun State gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Olufemi Ajadi, has rated the maintenance capacity of aircrafts operating at Nigeria airports as a primitive system that needs urgent attention.

Ajadi made the observation while interacting with Nigerian journalists, upon alighting with his team from an aeroplane with his team.

Ajadi (extreme right) and his team

Ajadi said most of the airlines are operating with old aeroplanes that are unfit.

He added that the airline industry, especially those running local businesses, should be monitored and sanctioned if necessary by the federal government.

“The airline, in which I have just dropped off now, turned all the boarding passengers into prayer-warriors as the aeroplane was jerking in a worrisome mannere”, he said.

It could be recalled from some publications published recently in which the federal government had vowed that it would sanction foreign airlines selling tickets to Nigerians in dollars, stressing that the practice violates the country’s laws.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this while fielding questions from reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Sirika said Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) officials have already been directed to protect the interest of Nigerians, adding that no violator will be spared.

“Our regulators are not sleeping. We have a very vibrant NCAA. Once they find any airline guilty, that airline will be dealt with because we need to protect our people. It is according to our agreements; what we have signed, and this is according to international convention,” he said.