THE Atiku Campaign Organisation has alleged that the Federal Government has been intimidating commercial airlines to deny Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Action Congress (AC) the use of their aircraft for campaign-related trips.
According to a press statement by the organisation, the order to the commercial airlines not to allow their aircraft to be chartered by �an opposition party� any more, was said to have come from the Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
�Airline officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the minister had threatened to revoke their operating licences if they continued to rent their planes to Atiku and the AC,� the organisation said in the press statement.
The organisation said as a result of the denial, several associates of Vice President Abubakar and journalists were stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, on Wednesday �because the aeroplane chartered for the campaign trip to Enugu was unavailable.
In his reaction to the allegation, the Minister of Transportation (Air Transport), Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said �there is no truth whatsoever in the allegation. No such directive has been given by the Ministry.�
Chief Fani-Kayode, who spoke through his Special Adviser (Media), Mr. Bayo Oladeji, said�this is yet another attempt by the Atiku campaign organisation to deceive the world and to lay baseless charges for their own shortcomings and inability to organise themselves properly.�