The 152 International Civil Aviation Organisation member states have voted for Nigeria to secure a Council Seat in the Part II category at the on-going 39th Assembly of the world aviation regulatory body.
With the election, Nigeria will be a member of the council for the next three years before another election.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, in a statement from his ministry on Tuesday, said, “I feel great, I feel that Nigeria has taken its rightful place. We are being elected into Part II yet again. Nigeria has been in this organisation since 1962.
“We have been contributing our quota and aviation has taken the centre stage now in the world especially post 9/11. Security has come to centre stage without diminishing safety.”
After the election, the ICAO President, Dr. Bernard Aliu, a Nigerian, visited the Nigeria office at the ICAO headquarters to congratulate Sirika, the permanent secretary and aviation chief executives present at the venue.
The Secretary-General of African Civil Aviation Commission Ms. Iyabo Sosina, also congratulated Nigeria and praised it for developments in the nation’s aviation sector. She urged while the country to put effort in attaining the desired standards.
The ICAO statue states that 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.
Appreciating African and other countries that voted Nigeria into the council for another three years, Sirika said, “I thank them very much and I thank the entire nations that voted Nigeria.”
