Two years after his predecessor commissioned the International Terminal Building at the Victor Attah International Airport (VAIA) in Uyo, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State said he “met it (the project) at almost 40 per cent completion.”
The Terminal Building, said to have the capacity to process a million passengers yearly, was commissioned by former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on 26 May 2023, a day before former Governor Udom Emmanuel completed his second term in office.
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Besides the Airport Terminal Building, the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility, a new taxiway, and an apron extension at the airport were also commissioned simultaneously on the same day.
In his remarks at the event, Mr Emmanuel said the state would share the newly commissioned MRO facility with the Nigerian Air Force to help maintain their fighter jets in the country.
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“I’ve tried to talk to the Chief of Air Staff recently; I don’t see any reason why our Air Force should be going outside the country to maintain or overhaul their fighter jets,” Mr Emmanuel had said.
Two years later, his successor, Mr Eno, said he met the Airport Terminal Building at almost 40 per cent completion.
Mr Eno disclosed this on Thursday at Government House, Uyo, when he briefed journalists on his administration’s achievements. The event was organised to mark the governor’s second year in office.
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He was responding to a question about tourism development, a key focus of his economic blueprint, the Arise Agenda.
“With Ibom Air, which can fly people, and we are soon going regional, you need to know what we have done to our airport terminal. We met it at almost 40 per cent completion. We are almost there,” Mr said, inferring that his predecessor commissioned an uncompleted project.
“We’ve added a second taxiway for the airport. We are doing an apron building. We are developing a lot about tourism. When we finish, maybe in the next two years, we will be able to put this roadmap at a tourism summit, tie all together, and then be able to do destination marketing,” Mr Eno said.
The governor said tourism is the most significant employer of labour in the world and shared his experience about the tourism opportunities in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, when he was invited to attend a conference there.
He said the experience ignited him to revisit the abandoned International Conference Centre and a hotel in the state. He said, “We can create our own Kigali around here and stop capital flight.”
Speaking further, Mr Eno said Akwa Ibom people are hospitable, and with good food.
“We are developing tourism slowly,” Mr Eno said, adding that tourism will boost the internally generated revenue of the state.
PREMIUM TIMES findings on Eno’s claim
As stated earlier, three projects: the airport terminal building, MRO facility, and taxiway with apron were commissioned by former Governor Emmanuel at an elaborate ceremony on 28 May 2023.
However, two years after the ceremony, the state government has continued to allocate money for the same projects, indicating they were uncompleted at commissioning.
A review of the state’s 2025 budget indicates that the government has allocated N8.5 billion for the already-commissioned airport terminal building.
Still in the 2025 budget, the state government allocated N1.2 billion for the construction of an international terminal building at the VAIA. It is unclear whether this money is intended for the same terminal.
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Similarly, the 2025 budget allocates N5 billion for Apron construction for the new terminal, N2 billion for the hangar floor, and N1 billion for the completion of the MRO’s back-of-house facility. The budget also allocates N1 billion for the completion of the taxiway with an apron.
The same project was allocated N500 million in the 2023 revised budget, N9.6 billion in the 2024 revised budget. Of the N9.6 billion, N1.5 billion was released to it between January and September 2024, while N8.5 billion is allocated to it in the 2025 budget.
The State Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, did not respond to calls and a text message seeking his comments.
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