Election 2019: Flight operations resume at airports

Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo

Flight operations Sunday picked up at the Murtala Muhammed Airport MMA Ikeja as passengers besieged terminals to catch their flights back to their various destinations after the first round of the country’s general elections. Last Friday, the airport was a beehive of activities as it was declared public holiday by the federal government to enable voters to travel to the places of registration to cast their votes. In a build-up to the election, airline operators adjusted their flights’ schedule in order to meet the restriction of movement during the election period but yesterday almost all local airlines have returned to their normal flight schedule Mr Christian Iwara , the image maker of Air Peace told Daily Times that the airline has commenced normal operations after the election. According to Iwara, the was no cause for alarm as everything was working according to the airline’s plan and passengers attended to. Meanwhile, passengers were last Saturday stranded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, following restriction of movement during the ongoing 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections. Some of the passengers who arrived the Airport from countries like the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America (US), the United Kingdom and South Africa, among others, could not immediately find means of transportation to their final destinations. Those travelling outside the country with morning flights came to the airport as early as 5:00 pm to beat the restriction order. Some of the inbound passengers advised the government to extend the restriction order to enable arriving passengers from outside the country to exercise their civic responsibility. According to them, the development would disenfranchise eligible voters who intended to arrive early into the country on Saturday to exercise their civic right. “We are developing as a nation and if we intend to build our political will, we must endeavour to put in place a workable system. “The PVC should be clearance for movement and when such priority is placed on the PVC, it would enable many Nigerians to even go and collect theirs. Mr Issa Shittu, who just arrived from the UAE, said he knew there was an election but felt that the country should not be shut down. “I know there is an election but in developed countries, people cast their votes but people are allowed to go about their daily chores. In fact, with the use of electronic voting, we can cast our votes and still be able to go about our usual activities”,he said.