• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
  • E-Book
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
  • E-Book
Home Fact-Check Fact-check: Is there an Airport in Kogi State?
  • Fact-Check

Fact-check: Is there an Airport in Kogi State?

By
Prnigeria
-
January 10, 2024
Kogi Airport betta Edu
Kogi Airport betta Edu

Fact-check: Is there an Airport in Kogi State?

Claim: A leaked memo reportedly from the office of the minister for Humanitarian Affairs and  Poverty Alleviation, showed an approval of funds for flight tickets and airport taxis for the ministry’s staff to Lokoja, Kogi State. 

Full Text: In the memo which went viral indicated that an officer with the title of national programme manager initiated a request for ‘The Disbursement Under the 2023 Grant for  Vulnerable Groups Programmes in Kogi State, 2023,’ and sought approval of a total sum of N72,374,500 which was approved by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Beta Edu.

In the memo, November 6, 2023, the sum is appropriated for the minister’s “advanced team” to travel by “air” for an “event” in Kogi state.

According to the memo, the sum of N300,000 was earmarked for the minister’s air ticket; seven persons, including a driver, are to get N200,000 each for “flight ticket” as part of an advanced team of the Minister, Betta Edu, to Kogi State.

The beneficiaries would received flat rates of N200,000 each for flight ticket and N20,000 also each for the airport taxi.

The Duty Tour Allowance of the beneficiaries ranges from N15,000 to N37,500 per night, while their local running allowance, which is 30 percent of the DTA, was put at between N22,500 to N56,250, depending on their status.

On the trip were public servants on Grade Levels 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15 and 16.

In all, they are to get N2,515,000 which was approved by the Minister Betta Edu.

The logistics for the disbursement was put at N3 million, while N60 million will be disbursed to some vulnerable beneficiaries in Kogi State. The final approval sighted on the memo, however, was N72,304,500 instead of the N63 million calculated.

A PRNigeria reader who sought clarification on the actual status of Kogi State Airport wrote, “…I need your help here. Some people claim that there is an airport in Kogi while some say it’s a lie. Can u help with a fact check?” 

Verification: To verify whether there is an airport in Lokoja, PRNigeria fact-check confirmed from various credible sources who deny the existence of an airport in the state.

However, PRNigeria confirms the existence of air strips in the state.  An airstrip is a stretch of land which has been cleared so that aircraft can take off and land.

The air strips in the state do not have facilities for landing and takeoff of commercial airlines.

Read Also:

  • Nigerian Army Denies Losing Weapons to Bandits in Kwara Operation
  • Uba Sani Releases ₦2.3bn for Retirees and Families of Deceased Workers
  • Group Urges CBN to Scrap 2% Service Charge on Hajj Fare to Reduce Pilgrimage Cost

Apart from a non functional airstrip in Adogo in Ajaokuta, with the Latitude of (7° 27′ 15.59″ N) and Longitude of (6° 27′ 23.99″ E.), there is another airstrip in Lokoja,  the state capital, located at latitude 7.80095 and longitude 6.58210 which one runway. It uses NG-0007 as reference without International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) code

Similarly, there is also an Egbe Airstrip, in the West senatorial district of the state. It was created  by foreign missionaries for supply of medical facilities en route Jos Airport, amidst other purposes. It was also used by the then Head of State, Gen. Olu Obasanjo during a state visit in 1979.

PRNigeria‘s checks with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and websites of commercial operating airlines in the country however revealed that there is no commercial or operational flight on these routes.

Meanwhile, helicopters can land in several locations in the state. It would be recalled that Caverton Helicopter conveying the former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on a visit crash-landed on February 2, 2019 on an ordinary field in Kabba, the western senatorial district of Kogi state.

There have been called for an airport in the state. Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi visited former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020 where he requested for his  assistance to build an airport in the state.

Similarly, in 2022 the Senate approved the rehabilitation of eight airstrips across the country in the 2022 national budget. The Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation then,  Senator Smart Adeyemi, told journalists during an interview.

He listed the sites of the airstrips as Uli-Okija (Anambra) Bida (Niger), Zuru (Kebbi), Zaria (Kaduna), Kotangora (Niger), Ajaokuta (Kogi) Irrhua (Edo) and Mubi (Adamawa) airstrips.

Conclusion: PRNigeria‘s fact check reveals that Kogi State has no Airport but Airstrips. However, the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello requested the assistance of the federal government towards the build of an airport in the state which is yet to materialise.

Verdict: PRNigeria therefore concludes that the request and approval for flight tickets for a trip to Kogi in an official memo are fraudulent as the state has no airport. Similarly, the claim of the existence of an airport in Kogi is also FALSE.

By PRNigeria 

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Beta Edu
  • Gov Yahaya Bello
  • Kogi State Airport
  • Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs
  • Muhammadu Buhari
Previous articleTinubu’s Big Stick as Sign of What to Come
Next articleBetta Edu: Tunji-Ojo Has Not Breached Any Law, says Shehu Sani
Prnigeria
Prnigeria

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

GWA Award Winners 2025

PHOTOS: Nigeria Customs, IMPR Bag Back-to-Back Golden World Award at IPRA 70th Anniversary

Customs, NCC Strengthen Alliance on Device Monitoring, Security, Public Safety

EFCC Arrests 42 Suspected Internet Fraudsters, Recovers Laptops, Phones in Yobe

Military Foils Terrorist Attacks, Rescues Victims, Dismantles Hideouts in Sokoto, Kebbi

ICPC

ICPC Rises to 3rd Place in Transparency Index, Records Historic Leap in Integrity Score

Nigeria and the Genocide Lie That Refuses to Die By Kabir Abdulsalam

FULL TEXT INDEPENDENCE SPEECH: Tinubu Hails Nigeria’s Progress at 65 Tinubu, Lists Achievements, Promises Brighter Future

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Nigeria @ 65: Tinubu Hails Armed Forces, Claims Victory Over Boko Haram, IPOB, Bandits

Bayo Onanuga: Between Bolekaja Publicity and Public Relations

Nigeria at 65: Tinubu Lists 12 Economic Gains of His Reforms

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Kano State

Gov Yusuf Launches N800m Youth Empowerment Scheme in Kano

A Neutralized Terrorists

Troops Foil ISWAP Attack, Neutralize 2 Terrorists, Recover Weapons in Monguno

Recent Posts

  • Nigerian Army Denies Losing Weapons to Bandits in Kwara Operation
  • Uba Sani Releases ₦2.3bn for Retirees and Families of Deceased Workers
  • Group Urges CBN to Scrap 2% Service Charge on Hajj Fare to Reduce Pilgrimage Cost
  • NDLEA Dismantles Cocaine Cartels Behind UK Shipments, Arrests Suspects, Destroys 25,000kg Skunk Nationwide
  • Kano Gov’t Investigates Alleged Diversion of N4bn Dala Inland Dry Port Funds
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Nigerian Army Denies Losing Weapons to Bandits in Kwara OperationUba Sani Releases ₦2.3bn for Retirees and Families of Deceased WorkersGroup Urges CBN to Scrap 2% Service Charge on Hajj Fare to Reduce Pilgrimage CostNDLEA Dismantles Cocaine Cartels Behind UK Shipments, Arrests Suspects, Destroys 25,000kg Skunk NationwideKano Gov't Investigates Alleged Diversion of N4bn Dala Inland Dry Port FundsACF Warns of Alleged Plot to Cripple Dangote Refinery, Urges FG InterventionTroops Neutralise Terrorists, Repel Boko Haram Attack in BornoPHOTOS: Nigeria Customs, IMPR Bag Back-to-Back Golden World Award at IPRA 70th AnniversaryTroops Nab Terrorists’ Logistics, Drug Suppliers in BornoS/Arabia-Trained Graduates to Begin Forum on Sustainable DevelopmentChristian Genocide and the Conspiracy against Nigeria By Femi Fani-KayodeWe Arrested 450 Terrorists, Rescued 180 Abducted Victims in One Month - MilitaryOver 100 Jerrycans of Petrol Seized as Police Foil Smuggling to Niger RepublicNAFDAC Seals Chinese Supermarkets, Cosmetics Shops in AbujaMining Marshals Arrests 5 Illegal Miners in Niger, Seize Logistics
X whatsapp