The House of Representatives on Thursday condemned operations at the Kaduna International Airport.

The Kaduna airport is serving as a temporary alternative to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, whose runway is undergoing reconstruction.

Chairman, House Committee on Loans, Aids and Debt Management, Adeyinka Ajayi on Thursday said safety standards were not being adhered to at the airport.

“God forbid that an aircraft should drop from the skies due to our own errors. This is what we should not pray to happen. As we speak, we have aircraft flying in the air. It can happen to anybody. Safety standards are not being adhered to at the airport,” he said.

Ajayi moved a motion stating that aviation authorities review and ensure that the Kaduna International Airport complied with operational and safety requirements.

He added, “Aircraft manoeuvring and parking space is inadequate to accommodate the high number of aircraft now operating in and out of the airport.

“Further disturbed that some aviation fuel marketers have been allegedly transferring Jet A-1 from bulk road tankers directly into bowers right on the tarmac and discharging same into aircraft; this poses a lot of danger to passengers and aircraft safety.”

Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Relations, Nnenna Ukeje said lives of passengers were at risk at the airport.

She said she spent close to two hours after landing at the airport, struggling to get her luggage and exit the environment.

“The Kaduna airport experiment has obviously failed,” she stated.

Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila said there must be a problem with the airport, unknown to Nigerians, for foreign airlines to insist on not landing at the airport.

Gbajabiamila said, “If all the foreign airlines but one said they would not use Kaduna, was there something they knew that we did not know?

“If the airlines have chosen to lose money than fly into Kaduna, then there is a problem that we should be concerned about.”

A lawmaker from Kaduna, Simon Arabo however said it was unfair for the lawmakers to condemn the airport as no accident has been reported.

“There has been no report of any accident in Kaduna. It is also very unfair for anyone to come here and describe the airport as a construction site,” he said.