Members of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Aviation have gone into a closed-door meeting following an inspection of the damage caused by Monday’s fire at Terminal 1 of the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The lawmakers arrived at the airport at about 3:07 p.m. on Thursday and immediately inspected parts of the affected terminal before proceeding to a closed-door session with the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, led by the Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku.
As of the time of filing this report, the meeting was still ongoing.
It will be recalled that a fire razed a section of Terminal 1 of the airport on Monday, destroying critical infrastructure and equipment. The incident has drawn the attention of stakeholders and government officials to the facility.
Earlier, the Chairman of FAAN’s Board of Directors, Abdullahi Ganduje, lamented the loss of equipment, particularly that belonging to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.
He described the incident as a major concern to board members when it was first reported and noted that the cause of the fire had yet to be ascertained, as relevant authorities were still investigating.
Ganduje also said the incident had impacted ongoing aviation sector reforms under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking while assessing the damage at the terminal, he said, “There’s no doubt that when we heard about the fire outbreak at the International Airport here in Lagos, it was an issue of great concern, especially to the board members. We believe the core value of FAAN is safety, and this really affected the safety of the airport, including the safety of employees, passengers, equipment and other infrastructural facilities.
“We decided to be here in order to see things for ourselves. We have seen the damage that occurred, but at the same time, we have to congratulate the MD and her management team, especially the firefighters — over 150 of them — who were on the ground until the fire was completely extinguished. However, this is an unfortunate situation.
“From what we have seen, the firefighters did a lot of work. A lot of very sensitive equipment has been destroyed, but no lives were lost. I think the situation is under control now, but it’s unfortunate.”
