The North East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) has concretised its plan to establish a regional carrier by raising N10.8 billion in counterpart funding for the airline already named, ‘North East Airline.
The chairman of the forum and Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, disclosed this recently during the opening ceremony of the 10th meeting of the North East Governors’ Forum in Maiduguri.
Addressing the other governors of member states and other regional leaders, Zulum stated that the balance of the counterpart fund would be remitted before the end of the month to enable the immediate rollout of the flight operations.
“The establishment of the North East Air Shuttle is a significant step towards improving connectivity within the sub-region, and we look forward to the commencement of these operations soon,” Zulum said.
“To this end, N10.8 billion has been realised as counterpart contributions from the governors of the North-east region. Insha Allah, the remaining counterpart funds shall be received before the end of this month, this year, with a view to actualising our dream of having the North East Air Shuttle,” Zulum further said.
He urged member states—Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe—to consolidate their commitments and work in unison to ensure the smooth take-off of the regional carrier.