“Government has responded and Mr. President has approved that funds be released for major repairs in the interim before a complete overhaul and rehabilitation of the runway is carried out.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved funds for the repair of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, runway.

The Federal Government said the repair would be handled by local contractors after the conclusion of a bid process.

The runway, which was designed and built in 1982 and expected to last for 20 years, is yet to witness any repair about 34 years after it was designed.

Speaking in Abuja after an inspection of the runway, Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika said: “Government has responded and Mr. President has approved that funds be released for major repairs in the interim before a complete overhaul and rehabilitation of the runway is carried out.

“We have gone to BPP and sought their approval to short-circuit the system to address this national emergency. They have given approval and we have invited local contractors we can mobilise quickly to the site to carry out the repairs. The contractors that were invited include but are not limited to Julius Berger, PW, CCECC, Dantata and Sawoe, CGC, Reynolds and CRGC.

“The contractors came and were given access to the runway; they carried out research, inspected with a view to bringing their quotation from which we will select the best that can give us the best to restore the runway to a good degree that it can be used before major repairs and overhaul would be carried out.

The minister noted that the repairs will give more strength to the runway.