Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, said the planned demolition of private hangars of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos is ill-advised.
The private hangars are allegedly obstructing some boarding fingers at the new terminal.
Nnaji spoke during a joint oversight inspection tour of the airport by the Senate and House of Representatives committees on Aviation.
The lawmaker said the obstruction was not considered during the initial construction of the new terminal.
He added that rather than spend billions of taxpayers’ money on compensation, “FAAN can restrict the use of the affected fingers to narrow-bodied aircraft and deploy the money that would go for compensation to the owners of the facilities to the building of additional terminals”.
Nnaji’s Senate counterpart, Smart Adeyemi, backed the House Committee Chairman’s position.
Adeyemi urged the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Captain Hamisu Yadudu, to present the cost of demolition and compensation due to the owners of the hangars to the two committees for consideration before demolishing them.
“We are the representatives of the people and we must be sure that the resources of the country are not unduly wasted. We must weigh the options. If the amount to be paid out as compensation does not make a sound economic judgment, we will not allow it,” He added.
