The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu has alerted the nation that concrete steps must be taken to combat the current hard situation bedeviling the aviation industry, otherwise the agency may be forced to shut down the nation’s airspace for the safety of air travellers.
The NCAA Boss gave the signal as the pump price of Jet-A1 otherwise known as aviation fuel, continues to soar.
Captain Nuhu spoke at a meeting organized by the leadership of the House of Representatives led by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Idris Ahmed Wase to find a lasting solution to the aviation fuel crisis.
The House had earlier directed the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority to do everything possible to remove the cartel growing in the industry that had jacked up the prices of aviation fuel to its current price of N670 per litre from its usual price of N190 and the non availability of the product.
However, the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, Ogbogu Ukoha, insisted that there was enough jet A1 in the country to last for 34 days.
While speaking at a meeting, the NCAA boss who expressed surprise at the sudden increase in the price of Jet A1, said the safety of passengers was key to his mandate, pointing out that with the way things were going currently, he might be forced to shut down some airline and by extension, the airspace to ensure safety.
According to him, “I don’t want to appear before any committee either here in the House or in the Senate to explain what happened to airline ABCD. So, we must do something fast to address this situation so that things do not get out of hand.”