Sirika Announces Abuja Airport Closure Plan, Names Kaduna as Alternative

Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika told journalists in Abuja on 19 December 2016 that Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport would close for six weeks in February and March 2017 so crews could rebuild its single runway, which he said had already run 14 years past its design lifespan. The announcement, made months ahead of the closure itself, set off immediate debate over where Abuja-bound traffic would go for the duration of the shutdown.

Kaduna Chosen Over Minna, Jos and Ilorin

Sirika said the government had weighed Minna Airport in Niger State, Yakubu Gowon Airport in Jos and Ilorin Airport in Kwara as possible alternatives before settling on Kaduna International Airport, arguing that none of the three closer options met the criteria the government had set. The choice proved contentious: critics pointed to Sirika's own roots in Kaduna and questioned whether the airport had the capacity to absorb Abuja's passenger and cargo traffic, while the roughly 210-kilometre road route between the two cities ran through an area with a documented history of banditry and kidnapping.

The federal government said it had approved close to N1 billion to finish outstanding work on the Kaduna terminal ahead of the diversion and had set up a dedicated committee, working with the Office of the National Security Adviser, to fix a start date for the runway job and coordinate security for the road convoys that would carry passengers between the two airports.

A Long-Deferred Repair

Sirika said the Abuja runway, built in 1982 with a 20-year design life, had already deteriorated to the point where a full closure was the only viable option, ruling out the staggered, section-by-section repair some industry stakeholders had proposed. The minister put the total rehabilitation timeline at six months, of which six weeks would require the runway to be completely shut to traffic. The closure itself did not begin until 8 March 2017, roughly two and a half months after this announcement, following formal Federal Executive Council approval in January.