The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has reacted to the statement of the Chairman of Executive Jets Services Limited, Dr Sam Iwuajoku, the airline mixed up the identity of Azeez Adeshina Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, for that of the Minister.
Newsdiaryonline recalls that following the suspension of the private airline by the Ministry of Aviation as a result of the violation of social distancing rule in Abuja, Iwuajoku, in a letter to the Minister, explained that they mixed up Naira Marley’s identity for Babatunde Raji Fashola.
In his words, Iwuajoku explained that upon seeing the manifest, he mistook the identity for that of the Ministers, “and I saw Fashola Babatunde, I thought it was the Hon. Minister of Works going to Abuja so we decided to do the flight since he is a serving Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
However, the Minister, in a statement by Hakeem Bello, his Special Adviser on Communications on Tuesday said he had not traveled out of Abuja since March 22.
Read the statement below:
The attention of the Office of the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has been drawn to a letter signed by the Chairman/CEO of Executive Jets Services Limited, Dr Sam Iwuajoku concerning a flight it operated to Abuja last weekend.
For purposes of clarity and in order to set the records straight, the Hon. Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has not travelled out of Abuja since March 22, 2020, when he returned there after an inspection tour of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway construction work and a visit to Lagos, before the lockdown.
The decision of the Hon. Minister not to travel was taken in strict compliance with the Federal Government’s ban on inter-state travels as part of efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is therefore ridiculous for Dr Iwuajoku to attempt to link the Hon. Minister with any non-compliant flight.
