Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, emphasized on Sunday that privileged Nigerians, such as Bishop David Oyedepo, cannot depart the country from their private airstrips without obtaining clearance from relevant authorities.
Festus Keyamo reiterated this during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television.
This statement follows recent calls from the House of Representatives to revoke airstrip licenses for security reasons and halt the issuance of new licenses.
Keyamo maintained that all aircraft, military or civilian, must receive approval from the appropriate agency before entering or leaving Nigeria.
When asked if the airstrip of Oyedepo also passed through the same due process, Keyamo nodded.
He said, “Oh yes, absolutely. That’s no problem. They were only concerned about the fact that they thought that somebody can take off from a private airstrip and fly out of Nigeria or fly into Nigeria. It is not possible.
“You must land in an international airport first. Then the Customs, immigration and NDLEA will process you before you take off from there to your private airstrip. If you are also flying out, you must land at an international airport. You will go through Customs, immigration and all the normal process before flying out.
“So nobody uses an airstrip for any such purpose without seeking clearance. At every point in time, the authorities must approve.”
When quizzed on how many airstrips the country is operating at the moment, Keyamo said they are in the range of 40.
“We have a number of them, more than 40. For the federal airport, we have 23. The state airport has about eight or nine now.
“And then the airstrips are about 40 or thereabouts. I have been there myself,” he stated.
