We have turned down flight approval requests from 5 governors —Sirika

The Minister of Aviation on Tuesday, disclosed that the Federal Government had denied requests for flight approval from five state governors in the country.

The minister disclosed this at the daily press briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja

He said: “There is no exception to governors. I have denied several of such flights. Including two governors from the South-South, two from the South-East and by the way, three of them are members of the All Progressives Congress. I think one is from North-Central.

“For a flight to be approved, it shows that it is diligently done. It must be essential, COVID-19 related or other essential flights like cargo that will bring in medicines or equipment or other things related to COVID-19 or our whole wellbeing like food.”

Read also: Nigerian govt warns against use of uncertified COVID-19 vaccine as sellers hawk one in Kano

Sirika further explained that virtually all flights recently sighted across the country’s airspace were on essential duties.

“Also, some of them could be evacuation flights and those on diplomatic purposes”, he said.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government ordered the closure of the nation’s airspace to international flights in the wake of the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 disease pandemic in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari however ordered all local and chartered flights in the country suspended in his March 29th nationwide broadcast.

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