Babatunde Raji Fashola, Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, has advised the Chairman/CEO of Executive Jets Services, Mr. Sam Iwuajoku, to leave him out of his non-compliant flight.
Fashola said he has not travelled outside of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), since March 22, 2020.
Fashola made the comment on Tuesday in reaction to a statement by Iwuajoku on Tuesday where the latter said he thought the request for the flight from Lagos to Abuja was made by the minister.
Fashola’s Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Hakeem Bello, in a statement said: “The attention of the Office of the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has been drawn to a letter signed by the Chairman/CEO of Executive Jets Services Limited, Dr. Sam Iwuajoku, concerning a flight it operated to Abuja last weekend.
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“For purposes of clarity and in order to set the records straight, the Hon. Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has not travelled out of Abuja since March 22, 2020, when he returned there after an inspection tour of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway construction work and a visit to Lagos before the lockdown.
“The decision of the minister not to travel was taken in strict compliance with the Federal Government’s ban on inter-state travels as part of efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is therefore ridiculous for Dr Iwuajoku to attempt to link the Hon. Minister with any non-compliant flight.”
At the presidential task force on COVID-19 briefing on Monday, Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, had announced that Executive Jets had been suspended indefinitely from operating in the country.
The charter company contravened COVID-19 protocols by flying Naira Marley to a concert in Abuja on June 13 and returned him to Lagos on the same day.