By Victor Nwegede.
Ebonyi State government led by Governor Francis Nwifuru has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration to repay the state the cost of the construction of the Chuba Okadigbo International Airport.
The state government through the commissioner of aviation and transport technology, Mrs Ngozi Obichukwu made this known while addressing a ministerial team of the federal government who came to evaluate the worth of the Chuba Okadigbo's airport.
The team who are made up of representatives of various federal ministries; Federal Ministry of Aviation, Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, NAMA, NIMET, and FAN, etc, however, inspected the work done at the Chuba Okadigbo's airport.
According to the aviation commissioner Obichukwu: "Ebonyi state government is ready to relinquish this great outfit (Airport) to the federal government.
"The governor Francis Nwifuru has judiciously utilized the little resources we have in Ebonyi state to come up with that runway. He has tirelessly made sure that Chuba Okadigbo's international airport is put to use.
"Like he (governor) told you (Federal government delegation) if he refused to work on the airport or abandon it, what conscience will he have in the future?
"You are here as professionals, and I plead with you to temper your real humane justice unto us and give us what is right. We have made proposals to the federal government and if we relinquish this outfit, we should have something commiserate with what is on the ground" she said.
In a swift reaction, the ministerial team leaderMrr. Sunday Ibe, representing the federal ministry of Aviation said: "Chuba Okadigbo's airport is one of the best in the country, and what the governor Francis Nwifuru said about the cost of the airport, there is no doubt whether he has spent so much money on the airport or not.
"We only came to evaluate the worth of this airport, and we have experts; Quantity surveyors, estate surveyors, Accountancy, NIMET, NAMA, FAN and so, they know the value of whatever that has been put in place here.
"And we are going to be fair and just in our evaluation because the fact speaks for itself. The job done here is standard and of high quality. We assure the state, that it's not only what they have on the paper, but we also access what is on the ground. And for every kobo spent on this airport, we will make sure that we evaluate them so that the refund will be worth it.
"Airport takeover by the federal government are in stages, FEC has approved the takeover. And so, we have FEC approval. The only thing left is for us to refund the Ebonyi state government. We don't know the amount until we finish our evaluation. And that is the time we will the amount involved" he stated.
Other members of the delegation include; Aro Oluoaseun (Fed. Min. Housing & urban dev), Unakalamba Uche, (Fed. Min. Housing & Urban Development), Ezugwu Fidelis Okonkwu (NAMA), Oluwaseon Emmanuel Omotayo (NAMA), Ejiofor Ikem Bobo (NIMET), Ajayi Micheal (Fed. aviation), Aliyu Tukur (Fed aviation), and Okobia Uzorma (Fed. Aviation).
