* Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed * Pix Source : YNaija
…Commends FAAN For A Job Well Done
…Says There Is Improvement In Passengers’ Experience
The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has expressed her satisfaction with the state of the arrival hall of the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, (MMA), Lagos.
She also commended Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for a job well done.
Mrs Ahmed made the remark yesterday at the airport during her one-day tour of the airport facilities.
According to the Minister, there has been an upgrade that shows an improvement in passengers’ experience, especially on the arrival hall of the MMIA.
On the essence of the tour, Ahmed said that he visited the airport to inspect the projects under the FAAN.
According to her, “The reason why we are here is to inspect the projects under FAAN. The essence of this is to see how well government’s resources are utilised. To also see and understand the challenges that the airport is facing so that when resources are to be allocated or disbursed, we will do it with the understanding of how they are to be used.”
Mrs Ahmed stated that that her team would write a report and indicate what they have observed and also share the report with the authority for them to see what has been recorded as a result of the visit.
Speaking on the level of on-going projects at the airport, the Minister said “We have seen a number of projects at different levels of completion. We have seen a lot of good work that has been done. There are some projects that are suffering as a result of number of different challenges. We have also seen the upgrade of the airport that shows an improvement in users’ experience, especially on the arrival of the MMIA”.
She further stated that it was very evident that “we need to do a lot of work to upgrade the departure area of the airport. The luggage handling process is very problematic. It is largely manual and as a result of that, customers spend hours before getting their luggage. That needs to be addressed.”
She confirmed that some of the reports on the projects given to the ministry tallies with what is on ground, but the minister, however, pointed out that progress has been made and that the agency needed to do more.
The Minister was accompanied on the one-day tour by officials of the Budget and National Planning Ministry and other stakeholders in the aviation industry including: Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Usman Murthar; Director of Finance & Accounts, Nike Aboderin, Director, Commercial & Business Development, Sadiku Rafindadi, Acting Director, Maintenance & Engineering, Engr. Salisu Daura, Chief of Staff to MD, FAAN, Zakari Mahmuda, General Manager, Budget & Planning, Abiodun Adegbesan, Acting Airport Manager, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Victoria Shin-Aba, General Manager, DGM, Airfield Services, Jim Opotu and Acting General, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu.
