Ekiti airport project: Minister accuses APC of deceit

The Minister of State for Works, Dayo Adeyeye, has described the promise by the All Progressives Congress, APC, to build an airport in Ekiti State if it assumes power as “deceit taken too far.”

He said “Ekiti Airport project was initiated in 2009 by the Yar’Adua government, but frustrated by the APC government of Dr Kayode Fayemi.”

The Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, had said during the APC presidential campaign in Ado Ekiti on Saturday that airport will be built in Ekiti State if Muhammadu Buhari is elected president.

However, in a statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, the Minister of State for Works said such a statement from Mr. Aregbesola was a pointer to the fact that the “APC people do not have any knowledge of issues they are boasting to resolve if they take over power.”

Mr. Adeyeye pointed out that “as at 2010, terrain flight check for site selection had been done, site approval obtained from the Ministry of Aviation, perimeter land survey completed, meteorological data (i.e. Wind-Rose) already obtained from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Form AC-001 had been collected for completion and submission to Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), guidance materials on the procedures to be followed for development and certification of airport and related technical and regulatory requirements to be met had been collected for necessary assessment; and materials needs for runway orientation and establishment of Obstacle Limitation Surfaces had virtually been concluded.”

He said; “Instead of Fayemi to collaborate with the federal government on the airport project, he, out of political vendetta told the federal government that airport was not the priority of the state.

“On August 16, 2011, Fayemi was reported in the newspapers to have said that airport project was not his priority.

“On August 20, 2011, a group, the Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) wrote an open letter to Governor Fayemi, begging him to show interest in the airport project but he ignored the plea then.

“Isn’t it then hypocritical and deceitful for the APC to come to Ekiti to promise us airport that it rejected when the PDP federal government gave us?

“The answer is simple. APC is a party of hypocrites and an attention seekers, who always want to gain cheap political points. But on this airport project, they took their deceit too far and Nigerians must take note of this.”