The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to
direct the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria to issue licenses to allow Bayelsa Airport to
begin operations.

The call followed the adoption of a motion moved by the Minority
Leader, Ndudi Elumelu; Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu;
Minority Whip, Gideon Gwani; Mr. Fred Obua and Mr. Preye Oseke at the
plenary yesterday.

Adopting the motion titled ‘Need for the Federal Government to Grant
Operational Rights to the Bayelsa Airport’, the House resolved to
“urge Federal Government to direct NCAA and FAAN to immediately grant
Bayelsa Airport the operational rights”.

The House also mandated the Committee on Aviation to follow up on the
resolution, ensure compliance and report back within four weeks.

Presenting the motion, Elumelu said that in February 2019, the Bayelsa
State Government completed the construction of its international
airport, which has a runway of three point seven kilometers, one of
the longest in the country and has a capacity of providing about two
thousand formal and informal jobs for the indigenes of the state.

The House further noted that the airport was constructed with a
whopping sum of sixty billion naira taxpayers’ money and has some of
the best and latest equipment in the aviation industry.