Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike said that the delay in completion of the domestic terminal of the Port Harcourt International Airport was due to politics.
The governor said that he pleaded to be allowed to intervene in the completion of the project but was declined due to politics.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to complete the construction of the domestic terminal of the airport.
Wike, who spoke during a visit by the new General Manager of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for South-South and South-East regions, Mr. Felix Akinbinu, to the Government House, Port Harcourt, said the critical intervention at the airport was to improve the international acceptance of the facility.
The governor said: “In the beginning, I pleaded that I be allowed to intervene in the completion of the local terminal of the airport, but they declined because of politics. Why can’t they complete the construction of the local terminal? Is it because it is Rivers State”?
He urged the authorities to forget political considerations and complete the local terminal in the interest of Rivers people and other users of the facility.
The governor, who also promised to reconstruct the road leading to the VIP lounge at the airport, said the Rivers State Government is committed to making the airport the destination of choice in the country.
“The state government will also demolish the existing VIP lounge and construct a befitting one. The new lounge will be a storey building. You have made these requests, which I have granted,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines will commence international flight to Port Harcourt International Airport today and the governor has expressed delight over the development.
Akinbinu informed the governor that the maiden international flight of Turkish Airlines would land at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
He appealed to him to assist in the dualisation of the access road to the airport and the reconstruction of the VIP lounge.
