Nigerians’ Complaints Seem ‘Fabricated’ – Reps Blow Hot After Suffering Severe Flight Delay

Members of the House of Representatives on an oversight function were on Wednesday left stranded at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano as their flight was rescheduled four times.

The lawmakers, who were an official assignment with the Committee on Petroleum Upstream and Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), were said to have arrived at the airport to board an Azman airline flight, scheduled for 12:30pm on Wednesday, en route Abuja.

The lawmakers, Benjamin Kalu (APC, Abia), Rotimi Agunsoye (APC, Lagos), Henry Achibong (PDP, Akwa-Ibom), and others, reportedly waited for hours without being attended to as the flight was thereafter shifted to 2:30pm, 6pm, 9:45pm and finally to 12:15am on Thursday. Officials of the airline were said to have failed to address the passengers on the cause of the delay.

While bemoaning the incident, Kalu, who is the spokesperson of the House of Representatives, said a meeting will be held with the Ministry of Aviation and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) over the matter.

According to him, “It is important the people we represent know where we are and the national assembly knows we are still stranded here. As we speak to you, nobody is at the counter to address us, not even the manager.

“We just came out to see the manager and other members are still inside.

“In the hall, a lot of Nigerians were left stranded. There are other Nigerians who are stranded and we are witnessing this firsthand and we are feeling it; some of the citizens are abandoned here.

“We are raising this call for common Nigerians. Sometimes, when citizens bring their complaints, it appears as if they fabricated it, but this one we are involved and we are seeing this for ourselves.

“We don’t know when we are leaving here, and we have shown interest to find out from the ministry of aviation and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) what is happening to the aviation sector as soon as we return.”

Naija News recalls that the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had in July, announced that airlines shall reimburse passengers their tickets after two hours delay. Despite the stiff penalty, Nigerians continue to experience flight delays.