By Kenneth Ehigiator

LAGOS—The Federal Government said, yesterday, that the delay in completion of Port Harcourt International Airport was caused by the expansion in the scope of work, noting that work was in progress.

Government’s reaction came against the backdrop of claims by Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, that work on the airport had been abandoned.

General Manager, Corporate Communication, FAAN, Yakubu Dati, sa id the airport was too important to the Niger Delta to be abandoned.

“The airport is very, very important, especially as it is the window into the Niger Delta region. This is why the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and, indeed, the government had made the Port Harcourt International Airport a priority.

“I want to also say that when we started, we wanted to remodel the airport, but eventually it became total reconstruction. The contractor had to pull down most of the areas which were not even in the initial drawing, which was what resulted in the extension of work.