By KENNETH EHIGIATOR
LAGOS—The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, yesterday, dismissed insinuations that power supply to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, would be epileptic for the next four months.
General Manager, Public Affairs of the agency, Mr. Akin Olukunle, who issued a statement last night, also denied telling anyone that the airport would have no electricity supply for four months.
A national daily (not Vanguard) had reported yesterday that the airport would be devoid of power for four months.
But, Olukunle said the report was a figment of the writer's imagination, adding that "it is highly disheartening and embarrassing that the reporter further credited the false claims to me as the spokesman of the authority.
"I did not at any time grant any form of interview to the said reporter on Monday, March 13, 2012. This is a professional misconduct."
He said the power outage at the airport last weekend was caused by technical fault, stressing that it only affected the terminal building and not sensitive parts of the airport.
According to him, generators at the airport were immediately switched on to enable airlines continue their across-the-counter operations.
He said: "Though some of the airport users experienced some inconveniences, it was never at the level of suffocation as reported.
"It is also worthy of note that FAAN has functional standby generators at all our 22 airports to ensure uninterrupted power supply.
"So, the issue of passengers or airport users experiencing power outage for the next four months as reported at MMIA or any of our airports does not arise in any way.
"The Federal Government, the Ministry of Aviation and FAAN cannot afford to leave any of the airports without power supply as they have continued to give priority to safety and security at all our airports in accordance with ICAO standards and practices," Olukunle said.
He also noted that the agency was currently re-modelling 11 of the nation's 22 airports in line with President Goodluck Jonathan's transformational agenda.
vanguardngr.com