Nigeria Secures ICAO Council Seat

The 152 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), member states, on Tuesday,  voted for Nigeria to secure Council seat in the Part II category at the on-going 39th Assembly of the world aviation regulatory body.

That was the first time Nigeria would be given such honour.

With the election, Nigeria would now be a member of the Council for the next three.

Commenting on the election in faraway Canada, the Minister of State, Aviation Sen. Hadi Sirika said that Nigeria had taken its rightful place in the global aviation industry.

He noted that Nigeria had been in the council since 1962 and was for the first time elected into Part II of the organisation. Nigeria has been in this council since 1962 and had been contributing its quota to the development of the organisation.

He said that the global aviation security had taken a centre stage since the September 11, 2001, terrorists attacks on the US.

Sirika commended African and other countries that voted Nigeria into the council for another three years.

He said, “I thank them very much and I thank the entire nations that voted Nigeria. Most importantly I thank the Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari who in the first place allowed and approved that Nigeria stand for the election. He gave us all the necessary support and has yielded good result.

““Nigeria has long ago endorsed the “No Country Left Behind” initiative of ICAO. Nigeria has been supporting aviation industry in the sub-region. We have Banjul Accord and BAGASSO domiciled in Nigeria and headquartered in Nigeria and being funded largely by Nigeria. Nigeria will continue to play the key role in leading aviation in the West and Central Africa.”

After the election, the ICAO President, Dr. Bernard Aliu paid a visit to the Nigeria office at the ICAO headquarters to congratulate Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Permanent Secretary and aviation chief executives present.

The Secretary-General of African Civil Aviation Commission, AFCAC, Ms. Iyabo Sosina congratulated Nigeria, urging the country to put effort in the development of aviation.

According to ICAO, “Each Member State is entitled to one vote on matters before the Assembly and decisions at these Sessions are taken by a majority of the votes cast – except where otherwise provided for in the Convention.”

According to ICAO, The Council is a permanent body of the organisation responsible to the Assembly.

It is composed of 36 Member States elected by the Assembly for a three-year term.

In the election, adequate representation is given to States of chief importance in air transport, States not otherwise included but which make the largest contribution to the provision of facilities for international civil air navigation and States not otherwise included whose designation will ensure that all major geographic areas of the world are represented on the Council.