FEC approves N645.5m for establishment of aviation accidents investigation school

The Federal Executive Council(FEC) has approved the sum of N645.5 million for the establishment of training school for aviation accidents investigation in Abuja.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after FEC meeting on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa.

The meeting, which lasted over eight hours, was presided over President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Today, we had one memo in council, it has to do with the establishment of Accident Investigation Bureau(AIB) office here in Abuja and the establishment of the training school for accident investigation also here in Abuja.

“Accident investigation, of course, is  like the pathologist of aviation if you like.

“So, their job is to investigate accidents and incidents and then with a view to preventing it happening again and is not to apportion blame; we have been very active these days and it is part of our safety activity.

“The contract sum for the construction of the school is N645.5 million; and for the refurbishment of the office, the sum is N591.8 million; it was taken and it was approved.

“The AIB has offices in Lagos, kano and Abuja, and Port Harcourt; now, they will put a training school in Abuja and also upgrade the office in Abuja to serve as the headquarters,” he said.

Sirika said that the sum was inclusive of the equipment component which was from the manufacturers through their representatives and would be certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO) and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, also briefed State House correspondents.

He said that the ministry provided a memo to the council seeking an extension to the consultancy services relating to Kontagora-Auna Dam and Irrigation project in Niger State.

Adamu said that FEC approved the extension of the services of the consultant by three years in the total sum of N734.5 million.

“This is a project that was started in 1987 but was abandoned and as part of efforts to complete ongoing and abandoned projects that we inherited, we revived this project in 2017/2018.

“And since we have revived, there is going to be an extension of time, it makes sense for the consultants that have been working on the project to also have an extension of their services,’’ he said.(NAN)