Aviation Minister blames poor regulatory oversight for frequent air accidents, meets with head of agencies

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has blamed poor regulatory oversight for the recurring air accidents that have besieged the nation’s airports.

The Minister made this statement in a meeting between the Minister and the heads of the agencies of the ministry.

Discussions at the meeting are centred on issues surrounding the recent aircraft accidents in the country with the view to finding a lasting solution to the problem.

Speaking, Keyamo said, “But just to say that, as a government we are very sensitive to public opinion. We will not close our eyes and close our ears to concerns raised by Nigerians.

“My view has always been that if an incident happened anywhere in our airports that is not the act of God then there is a failure of regulation somewhere. If there is a burst tyre of an aircraft, you can’t give excuses. 

“There’s someone who was given the responsibility to check the tyres before the plane takes off. So, you can’t say it’s an act of God; a burst tyre is not an act of God, it is an act of man.

“If the runway is not fit enough to land or maybe it was wet and it skids off the runway. There’s a failure of regulation. There was a dispatcher who dispatched that plane. So, if these things happen and we don’t see sanctions, we don’t call out the people who are involved then I have failed as a minister and that is why they are all here today.

“We need to review these incidents. We need to get a technical report of what happened. Pending those reports, we must take precautionary steps to ensure the safety of the lives of Nigerians.”

The latest incident which occurred was the diversion of a United Nigeria flight airbound from Lagos to Abuja but diverted to Asaba. The airline had yesterday issued a statement apologising to its flyers.

Previously, an aircraft conveying Oloye Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power crash-landed at the Ibadan Airport in Oyo State.