A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has called on the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd,), to commence reforms in the aviation sector by converting the Presidential Air Fleet to passenger planes.
The PAF is made up of aircraft, about 10 in number, dedicated to the air transportation needs of the President and his entourage as well as high ranking government officials.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said redeploying all the aircraft in the PAF to passenger planes in the form of a new national carrier will generate revenue for the country.
He said, “The aviation sector requires major reform. Nigeria has no presence in the aviation business. Nigeria Airways has been long comatose. Foreign aircraft dominate the Nigerian airspace and earn well over a trillion naira to our exclusion.
“A trillion naira is about a quarter of our entire national budget. The way forward is to redeploy all aircraft in the presidential fleet to form the hub of a new national carrier. Business for this new national carrier is easy to generate. I have proposed a bill, the Fly Nigeria Bill, to ensure that every government naira used to purchase a ticket must originate and terminate on a Nigerian carrier.
“The Fly Nigeria Bill, when passed into law, will create an instant market for our national carrier.”
