Ekiti airport project, misplaced priority—-Group

An Ekiti State-based socio-political group, Ekiti New Project (EKNP), has described the decision of Gov. Ayo Fayose to construct an airport in Ekiti as a misplaced priority.

This is contained in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti by the group’s Administrative Secretary, Mr Olufemi Aduloju.

Aduloju, according to the statement, wondered why the present administration would want to embark on a capital-driven project like construction of airport.

He said: “This is a government currently complaining that the N9.6 billion bail-out by the Federal Government could not pay the salaries of its workforce.

“Of what importance is the airport when the ones in Ibadan and Akure are not functioning because it could not be funded and managed well.

“The challenge of having an airport here is a grave one, how does the governor woo investors in aviation and the economy to do the needful in Ekiti?’’

“Accessibility to any place using the airport is key in running any business, Ekiti should therefore learn from the one in Ondo state, how viable and profitable has it been to the state?

“For many years until recently, the Akure airport was a ghost of itself and a mere shadow in the wilderness.

” If an oil rich state such as Ondo cannot add value to its people through its airport, how much more a very poor state like Ekiti, ” he added.