Juliet Akoje in Abuja
The House of Representatives has authorised a N100.5 billion promissory be aware programme to reimburse the Yobe State Government for the development of the Muhammadu Buhari International Cargo Airport in Damaturu, following the federal authorities’s determination to take over the power.
The authorised sum of N100,509,017,234.55 was granted on Wednesday after the House thought-about a report submitted by its Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management.
Speaking with journalists on the National Assembly in Abuja, the committee’s chairman, Abubakar Hassan Nalaraba, stated members carried out due diligence and carried out an inspection of the airport earlier than recommending the reimbursement.
He defined that officers of the Federal Ministries of Aviation and Finance in addition to different related authorities companies, offered technical assessments and supporting paperwork for the challenge.
Nalaraba stated the committee authorised the reimbursement after reviewing the findings of its oversight train and receiving technical reviews from the Ministries of Aviation and Finance, alongside related accounting authorities.
According to him, the committee was happy with the standard of the airport’s infrastructure and tools, including that professionals who assessed the amenities licensed them as assembly the required requirements.
The committee’s report disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Aviation had inspected the finished airport and confirmed that the standard of building complied with the requirements required for the federal authorities to imagine possession of the power.
It additional established that the Yobe State Government had settled funds as a result of contractors accountable for executing the challenge, whereas the Bureau of Public Procurement confirmed that the procurement course of complied with the related necessities.
In arriving at its advice, the committee examined paperwork and submissions from the Yobe State Government, the Federal Ministries of Finance and Aviation, the Federal Executive Council and the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The paperwork reviewed included contract agreements, certificates of completion, proof of funds to contractors, due-process compliance critiques and the Bureau of Public Procurement’s certificates of no objection.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had earlier sought the National Assembly’s approval for the promissory be aware programme in a communication learn on the ground of the House on October 13, 2026.
The request was made in accordance with the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act, 2003, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which require legislative approval for the programme.
Promissory be aware programmes are devices utilized by the federal authorities to settle excellent verified liabilities, together with reimbursements to state governments that execute initiatives on behalf of the federal authorities.
Speaking on the potential financial advantages of the airport, Nalaraba stated the power would offer extra worth to the folks of Yobe State and assist appeal to investments to the state and the nation.
He famous that the development of vital infrastructure in a state may enhance the welfare of residents whereas creating alternatives for financial development and funding.
Also talking, a member of the committee representing Yobe State, Mohammed Jajere, stated the airport had the potential to develop into a serious cargo hub for the North-East, notably for the transportation of agricultural produce and uncooked supplies.
Jajere described Yobe as an agrarian state with plentiful agricultural merchandise and uncooked supplies, expressing optimism that the cargo airport would offer an necessary transportation hyperlink for the area.
He added that the power may facilitate the motion of agricultural produce from the North-East to different markets, thereby bettering entry to consumers and supporting financial actions throughout the area.
However, journalists questioned the industrial viability of airports in Nigeria, citing a report attributed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) which indicated that solely three of the nation’s 22 home and worldwide airports have been commercially viable.
In response, Nalaraba stated the committee primarily based its advice on the technical assessments carried out by the related aviation authorities, noting that lawmakers relied on the experience of execs to guage the operational prospects of the power.
He maintained that officers of the Ministry of Aviation and FAAN had inspected the airport and authorized it as viable and prepared for industrial operations.
The committee chairman additional harassed that the challenge had undergone the required administrative and technical assessments earlier than the reimbursement request was introduced to the National Assembly for consideration.
Nalaraba additionally clarified that the authorised quantity was not new funding for the development of the airport however a reimbursement to the Yobe State Government for expenditure already incurred on a challenge the federal authorities had determined to take over.
He defined that the cash had already been spent on the development of the worldwide cargo airport, describing the proposed cost as a reimbursement to the state quite than contemporary funding for the challenge.
The committee chairman added that Yobe State had undertaken the development regardless of aviation being a matter throughout the unique legislative jurisdiction of the federal authorities.
Addressing considerations about the opportunity of extra monetary obligations arising from the challenge, the committee indicated the federal authorities’s takeover would switch accountability for the airport, together with its future upkeep and growth, to the federal authorities.
The committee additionally indicated that the reimbursement can be made as a one-off cost, though particulars of the particular cost preparations weren’t absolutely disclosed through the briefing.
With the approval, consideration is anticipated to shift to the federal authorities’s administration of the airport and its capability to draw ample industrial exercise to justify the general public funding, notably by way of the transportation of agricultural produce and different cargo from the North-East.
