Former Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has responded to criticism from Governor Alex Otti regarding the allocation of N10 billion for the Abia airport project, asserting that his objective was to develop a tradeport rather than a conventional airport.
In a widely circulated video on Olu ndi Igbo’s Twitter account, Ikpeazu defended his decision, affirming his authority as governor to adjust project priorities based on circumstances.
He said that his intention wasn’t simply to build an airport, citing financial constraints in maintaining such a facility.
Ikpeazu highlighted the impracticality of constructing an airport without adequate funds for maintenance and emphasized that Abia State lacked the resources to sustain an airport and was not considering one solely for landing and takeoff purposes.
He said, “Right from the outset, we were thinking about trade port. All we do in Nigeria is airport, airport, airport and they don’t seem viable, I wasn’t thinking that Abia doesn’t have money to sustain an airport if it is for aeroplane will land an aeroplane will take off.
“So, we were saying we can bring small Ariaria into the airport so that somebody can come to the airport to shop and sleep, and wait and then connect the next flight to the next location as they do in Dubai – small conference centre, small hotel and whatever so people can be. There will be life even after you know, but at some point, we found out that we had 15 markets in Aba.
“At the point we were thinking about this trade port, we realised that the road to Ariaria was bad, the road to Eziukwu Market was bad, the road to Ngwa Road Market was bad.
“So we couldn’t connect all our markets and my vision obtained from my desire to drive trade and commerce was to interconnect all the markets. So, we decided to suspend the airport project. Today, when people talk about money for airport and whatever, I think they are questioning my decision to change my mind and I had the right at that time as governor to say I didn’t want this airport now because if you land at the airport, where are you going to?
Ikpeazu added, “I am happy that today, I finished Eziukwu Road from that airport fund, I finished Faulks Road from that fund, Ngwa Road is okay, Osusu Road is okay. So, today you can connect with Ariaria through Osusu Road to Eziukwu Market and connect Eziukwu Market to Ngwa Road Market.
“So I succeeded in interconnecting all the markets courtesy of that fund.”
The former governor, while lauding his decision, said if his government had gone ahead, the N10 billion would not have built an airport.
I know about some airports right now that were commissioned and are yet to receive aeroplanes. So, how would I tie down N10 billion for nothing? So, I assure you no time that the money was diverted,” Ikpeazu said.
