- An internet user’s claim that the newly-commissioned Ebonyi International Airport has deteriorated has turned out to be false
- The Twitter user’s claim that airliners shunned the airport has been rated untrue by a fact-check report
- The airport is the fourth in Nigeria’s southeast geopolitical zone – Enugu, Imo, Anambra, and Ebonyi
Abakaliki, Ebonyi state – A Twitter user @Ekwulu in a post not long ago said the recently-commissioned Ebonyi International Airport has been abandoned and has turned into a car park.
He also criticised the immediate past governor of the state, David Umahi, for building the airport in ‘poor’ Ebonyi.
Source: Facebook
No, Ebonyi Airport not converted to motor park
The airport located at Onueke in Ebonyi state was named after former Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari.
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The social media user wrote:
“Ebonyi Airport shunned by Airlines turned to a motor park.
“Only God knows why the APC Ex Governor built an airport in one of the poorest states in Nigeria.
“An airport should not be the most important infrastructure in a state with a high poverty rate. SMH.”
As of the time of publishing this report, the tweet has been sighted by over 230, 000 people, and has been retweeted 625+ times.
Checks by Trust Check, a fact-checking platform, revealed that the airport which was commissioned by the immediate past Nigerian leader, Buhari, has been functional, although it is not experiencing flight traffic as expected.
Trust Check quotes Frank Ngwu, the project coordinator of the airport, as saying:
“It is difficult to see a newly inaugurated airport in Nigeria recording the volume of passenger operations as ours.
“It would have taken other airports more than six months to be operational but ours has gone full swing since it was test-run less than two months ago.”
Background
Legit.ng in May 2022 reported that Umahi made an audacious move to build an international airport in Ebonyi state.
The airport is to be both human and cargo-enabled, with government officials saying it will attract investments domestically and internationally.
In April 2023, it was commissioned. Independent Newspaper Nigeria noted this development.
Jubilation as Ebonyi governor announces salary increment for workers, recruitment
In a piece of related news, Legit.ng reported that Francis Nwifuru, the governor of Ebonyi state, approved salary increments for the civil servants in the state.
According to The Nation, the southeast governor also ordered that 1,454 civil servants be recruited to fill vacant spaces in the state’s civil servant system.
Source: Legit.ng
