Airfare Hike: Declare state of emergency on federal roads, Senate tells FG

Disturbed by the astronomical increase in airfares by Airline operators in the country, the Senate called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, declare a State of Emergency on the nation’s federal roads.

The Senate has also urged the federal government to immediately make good its indebtedness to FERMA in order to enable the agency carry out its primary responsibility of rehabilitating federal roads, especially in the face of the astronomical increase in airfares.

According to him, the rise in airfare has pegged the minimum Economy Class ticket at around N80,000 for travellers buying one-hour, one-way economy tickets.

Resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a point of order raised to draw its attention to the increase in airfare and the implication for Nigerian roads.

Rising under Order 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Orders, Senator Gershom Bassey, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Cross River South lamented that local airfares in Nigeria have risen by 63 per cent in response to a spike in the price of aviation fuel and attendant cost of operation.

“The humongous debt owed FERMA by the Federal Government has hampered the effective discharge of FERMA’s primary responsibility of road maintenance and rehabilitation.”