Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) has chastised the Aviation minister, princess Stella Oduah for her comments on air crashes.
The aviation minister had said in an interview that crashes were unavoidable and were acts of God.
Tinubu said the statements were quite scary as air travel had the record as being one of the safest in the world.
She said: “The Minister of Aviation actually said that you cannot really avoid disaster in air travel.
“It was quite scary because air travel is supposed to be the safest.
“So, for an aviation minister to say that, we really have to look into the statement credited to the minister. Is the minister supposed to frighten Nigerians that each time they travel they are supposed to be afraid? That is a question that requires answer.
“I want the Senate to look at the state of our runways. Are the runways in good condition? Have we ever considered the take-off and landing of our aircraft? Our runways are probably the worst runways on this planet.
“We all travel abroad; we’ve been to various airports and each time I land even at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos that is supposed to be the busiest airport in the country, I weep for Nigeria.
“While we look at the state of our aircraft, we should not forget to consider the runways. The Senate Committee on Aviation should look at the entire aviation industry.
“We don’t just pick on one issue because we had disaster and leave the rest. It should be holistic.
“We should stop playing politics with the lives of our people. Enough is enough. We have to make sure that this Seventh Senate, we consider issues as they are and always do the right thing so that we all will be glad that we served in this Seventh Senate.”
The Senate Committee on Aviation has also summoned the Aviation minister, Princess Stella Oduah to appear before it in order to probe the state of the sector.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma invoked Section 67(2) of the Constitution (as amended), which empowers it to invite any official of the government for questioning.
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