We’ll partner N/Assembly to upgrade Gombe Airport to int’l standard — Yahaya
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya says his administration will work with the National Assembly and relevant authorities to ensure the take-over and standardization of the Gombe Airport by the Federal Government.
Director-General, Press Affairs, Government House, Ismaila Uba Misilli, in a statement, quoted Governor Yahaya as saying this while receiving members of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation led by Senator Smart Adeyemi and Hon. Nnoli Nnaji, chairmen of the Senate and the House of Representatives Committees on Aviation respectively.
“We shall go to any length to see that we get reprieve with this airport and to see that there is an improvement on it for the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
He described the mission of the National Assembly committee to Gombe as a milestone for the people of the state and by extension the entire country.
“We financed the establishment of the airport and we are equally financing its operations and is becoming very cumbersome on the state government, especially in view of the current financial squeeze occasioned by COVID-19 and the downturn of the economy that affect Gombe State”.
Yahaya said his earlier interface with the federal lawmakers was aimed at pushing for take-over of the facility by the Federal Government in order to standardize it and remove its burden on the state government.
According to him, being the second to the last on the Federation Allocation table, Gombe needs all the support it can get to relieve itself from its financial burden and leverage on the resources therein to provide services to the people.
He said recently the Nigerian Air Force set up a forward operational base in Gombe known as combat reconnaissance group, owing to the centrality of the state in the Northeast and the advantages the state has in military operations, especially in a region plagued by insurgency.
Earlier, Senator Adeyemi, said the committee members were in the state for a `flying visit’ to assess the condition of the airport facility.
“We are here to have a true picture of the needs and challenges of each of the airports in Nigeria and come out with a position on what the
Federal Government should do to improve them,’’ he said.
He said “since the airport is strategically located in the northeast, there is a need for serious attention from the federal government. Aviation is key to socio-economic development of any nation, as it is the life of the nation today as no nation can talk about economic prosperity without the aviation industry.’’