Bayelsa State Government says the state-owned international airport has not been downgraded as insinuated in some quarters. It rather said the absence of scheduled flights to and fro the Bayelsa International Airport for a couple of weeks were not the fault of government, but some technical issues with the two airline operators.

The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the clarification when the Federated Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Bayelsa State Council, paid him a courtesy call in Government House, Yenagoa. Senator Ewhrudjakpo explained that the two airlines, Ibom-Air and United Nigeria Airlines, were carrying out D-Check on their aircrafts to determine the air-worthiness after it had made commercial flights for a period of ten years, which had also affected their flight operations from their primary routes.

According to the Deputy Governor, government is in touch with the management teams of both airlines, giving assurance that normal flight operations would resume at the airport before the end of this month. Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who noted that the present administration was working to change the general impression of leadership in the state, said proactive steps would be taken to checkmate the impact of impending flood.

He called on the Federated Correspondents Chapel to project efforts of the Prosperity Administration in Bayelsa in all sectors including agriculture, sports, health to security. Senator Ewhrudjakpo, thanked the media for their support and assured the Chapel that government would support their annual lecture slated for November this year.

The Deputy Governor however, observed that the standard of journalistic practice is in a steady decline in Nigeria and charged the Correspondents Chapel and its parent body, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, to raise the bar. Earlier in a remark, the State Chairman of the Federated Correspondents Chapel, NUJ, Mr. Tife Owolabi, said the visit was to formally introduce the newly elected executive members of the Chapel to the Deputy Governor. Mr. Owolabi, who eulogized the Deputy Governor for being media friendly, appealed to government for support towards their annual lecture programme and carry the chapel along in its activities.