President Tinubu said the state governments had to be reimbursed because the federal government had assumed ownership and control of the airports.
President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate’s approval of the reimbursement of over N15 billion to Kebbi State Government for the construction of Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport, Birnin Kebbi.
In addition, the president requests that the Nasarawa State Government be granted N9 billion in reimbursement for the building of Lafia Cargo Airport in Nasarawa.
This request was contained in a letter read by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio during Wednesday’s plenary.
According to the letter from President Tinubu, the state governments had to be reimbursed because the federal government had assumed ownership and control of the two airports. According to item three of the second schedule of the 1999 constitution, as amended, “aviation, including airports, safety of aircraft, and carriage of passengers and goods by air” are owned and managed by the Federal government. This is the basis for the decision, the president clarified. He pointed out that the federal government has the exclusive right to assume possession of aviation because it is included on the exclusive legislative list.
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The president also said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had also approved the reimbursement of the funds at its meeting last May through the issuance of provisory laws.
The letter reads: “Establishment of promissory notes program in favour of Kebbi and Nasarawa State governments for the reimbursement of the respective cost of construction of newly built airports in those states which have been taken over by the federal government.
“The Senate is invited to note that at the Executive Council meeting of the Federal Executive Council FEC which was held on the 23rd day of May 2023, it was approved as follows;
-That a promissory note in the sum of N9,000,542,651,786.11 be issued to the Nasarawa State government as a refund for the takeover of the newly constructed Nasarawa Airport.
-That a promissory note in the sum of N15,137,336,95.88 only be issued to the Kebbi state government as a refund for the takeover of Bernin Kebbi International Airport.
“The Senate may wish to note that by the provisions of item three of the second schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, aviation, including airports, safety of aircraft and carriage of passengers and goods by air, fall under the exclusive legislative list.
“The impact of this is that ownership, regulation and control of airports in Nigeria are exclusive to the federal government.
“In light of the above, I urge the Senate to consider and grant concurrent approval for the establishment of the promissory notes program in favour of Kebbi and Nasarawa states governments respectively as prescribed in paragraph two above.”
