‘Those culpable must be sacked’ — reps probe diversion of Lagos-bound flights to Ghana

The house of representatives has resolved to probe the diversion of flights by some airlines to Ghana over their inability to land at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

At Tuesday’s plenary session, the lawmakers also asked relevant government agencies and the airlines to refund stranded passengers.

TheCable had reported how British Airways, Rwandair, Emirates and Qatar airlines diverted their Lagos-bound flights to Kotoka International Airport, in Accra, as a result of poor visibility at the Lagos airport.

The problem was said to have been caused by bad weather condition as well as malfunctioning of the instrument landing system.

While deliberating on a motion sponsored by Wale Raji from Lagos state, the federal lawmakers said the flight diversion has “adversely affected the image of Nigeria.”

They said it has also caused the country huge revenue loss and has caused great distress to affected passengers.

Raji said the federal government budgeted had N7.8 billion for the procurement of navigation equipment for some airports including the ones in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Katsina, Maiduguri and Sokoto.

Toby Okechukwu from Enugu state said those found culpable in the matter should be sacked.

“The instrument landing system is there, and we are talking about calibration, the people responsible should go,” he said.

“Before you remove navigation system, there should have been replacement.”

He also said Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, should handle the problem as the relevant agencies report to him.

“The agency heads report to the minister and the minister reports to the president. We do not need to shift responsibility. This should not even should have come up,” Okechukwu added.

Amid the controversy, Henrietta Yakubu, spokesperson for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), told TheCable that some international airlines have been landing at the Lagos airport.

Sirika had said the federal government is making efforts to improve visibility at the Lagos airport.

He had also said landing at Ghana was the decision of the airlines as such could have been diverted to Abuja.