President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that the establishment of a national carrier for Nigeria is at 91 per cent completion, and is expected to commence flight operations before the end of this year.

The president gave the assurance at the third Ministerial Performance Review Retreat on Monday in Abuja.

The Nigeria Air gulps N14.6 billion under five per cent government’s equity share.

According to him, the certification of Lagos and Abuja international airports by the International Civil Aviation Organization, while Kano and Port Harcourt Airports are undergoing similar certification processes have given the project a boost.

Mr Buhari also stated that his regime invested in leather weapons and other critical military hardware as well as continuous training for the armed forces.

“The Nigerian Air Force has acquired 38 brand-new aircraft and is expecting another batch of 36 new ones, while the Nigerian Navy has been equipped with new platforms, sophisticated riverine, rigid-hull inflatable, seaward defence, whaler and fast-attack boats as well as helicopters and capital ships,” Mr Buhari said.

He added, “To boost the number of our police personnel, 20,000 policemen have been recruited, trained, fully integrated and deployed in 2020 and 2021. This exercise has strengthened our community policing strategy which is enshrined in the Police Act, 2020.”

(NAN)