We have been hearing that the plane of some so called southern leaders were denied landing in Makurdi some days ago because Buhari did not want them to get there. What they deliberately refused to tell you is what I will tell you in the next few tweets.
The NAF Air Force Base which the so called southern leaders wanted to fly into is a military facility and not a commercial airport that you can fly in and out of at will.
To be eligible to use the NAF airfroce base in Makurdi, you have to follow some procedures part of which is the request for permit to land and take off at the air base.
The procedure which is know to all pilots includes a written request to NAF Headquarters Abuja for permission for a specific aircraft to operate into its airfield on a specific date and time, including the names of passengers and other necessary details.
The Benue State Govt on the 16th of July, 2018 requested for permit to land an Aircraft with Registration Number 5N-FCT that will convey the southern leaders to land at the NAF Base Makurdi on the same day.
Although procedure for landing permits demands that requests for it must reach NAF Headquarters not later than two days before the desired landing date, the NAF waived that and granted the permit for the aircraft to land on the same day the request was made.
But at about 5pm on the day the Aircraft was supposed to land, NAF was verbally informed that there was a need to change the aircraft for which permission had already been issued, reportedly because the aircraft had developed some mechanical issues.
In line with established procedure, a new request for permit had to be made for the new Aircraft that eouldnnow be flying into the NAF base in Makurdi, since the initial one has developed fault. They were subsequently asked to put their request in writing.
But the Benue State government who was making the request for the change of Aircraft did not submit any written request to the NAF headquarters for permit for the replacement aircraft.
Since they didn't submit a new request for the replacement aircraft, they could not be granted a landing permit and therefore could not have been allowed to land at the NAF Airforce Base in Makurdi.
But this people went about town crying that Buhari denied them landing at Makurdi Airport. They didn't tell Nigerians that the airport is not a commercial airport that procedures demands permit for landing must be sought for.
They didn't tell Nigerians that they were actually granted permit for Aircraft with Registration Number 5N-FCT to land at the NAF Base Makurdi but couldn't even take off because it developed Mechanical faults
They didn't tell Nigerians that when they secured a replacement aircraft with Registration Number 5N-IZY, they were asked to submit another written request for permit which they never did.
They didn't tell Nigerians that a waiver was even granted to them when a request they submitted for permit for the first aircraft was approved the same day it was submitted whereas, the standard practice is to have it submitted two days before the desired travel date.
If the so called southern leaders wanted to play politics, they should choose wisely issues to play politics with and not issues that concerns security and safety.
