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Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has declared that one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions, Access Bank Plc, has expressed willingness to partner with the State Government in developing an airport project in the State.
Governor Otti made this disclosure when the Federal Ministry of Aviation team visited Abia State to inspect a proposed site for a new airport planned for the State.
Governor Otti, who warmly received the federal aviation team, thanked President Bola Tinubu for approving the development of an airstrip for Abia.
He said even though the national budget made provision for an airstrip, Abia State Government would work with the federal government to upscale the airstrip to a full-fledged airport, as the major difference between an airport and airstrip is the length and size of the runway.
“First of all, I will like to thank the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for consenting to setting up an airstrip in Abia and for also including it in 2024 budget as approved.
“Even if the money there may not complete it, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. So, we are grateful to him.
“We also want to say a big thanks to my friend and brother, the Minister of Aviation, Barrister Festus Keyamo, SAN, for all what he’s been doing to ensure that this becomes a reality. We are always on the line discussing, coming up with ideas on how to fast track this.
“I want to thank you for also joining us to be in a hurry to deliver this project. Once we had agreed, we started looking for a suitable land because that is the most important in an airport. There were a few places that were mapped out earlier, but when we went on physical inspection, we found out that some of those places do not have enough space or are not properly located for the airport.
“One other important thing about airport is location, so we now zeroed in on the place that you are looking at, at the moment. We didn’t just identify that location, we went the extra mile of identifying the owners of the land because it is a huge parcel of land. We had already started engaging with them,” governor Otti stated.
The governor assured the team of the State Government’s preparedness to see to the actualisation of the project in record time, as the people of Abia are in a hurry to have an airport of their own, being one of the two states remaining in Nigeria without an airport. The other is Osun State.
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