Business Activities upbeat at border towns also
Twenty four hours after the conclusion of Presidential and National Assembly elections in Lagos State, flights operations at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) are yet to fully normalize.
At the private terminal (MMA2) yesterday, the departure halls was quiet with few passengers arriving and departing.
Daily Trust reports that though the airspace was open on Saturday when the Presidential and National Assembly elections were held, no domestic flight operated throughout the day.
This led to many international passengers being stranded at the airport as they could not get connecting domestic flights on arrival from their respective foreign trips.
But yesterday, a day after the elections, activities have started picking up gradually with few flights operated though.
An airline official who spoke with our correspondent at the airport yesterday confirmed that normal scheduled operations have resumed but the passengers are still scanty at the moment.
“You can’t experience any rush today because of the election but you expect that things would normalize by Monday”, he said.
When our correspondent arrived the MMA2 yesterday, it was discovered that Dana Air flight to Abuja was departing ditto Air Peace flight to Asaba while Med-View flight was on the verge of departing to Abuja.
Unlike a normal day when the flight information board would feature a long list of flights, only four flights were departing.
A spokesperson for Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa said the carrier had returned to normal flights after the Saturday’s ‘sacrifice’ the airlines made because of the 2019 polls.
Commercial activities have resumed in border towns across the country, following the conclusion of the presidential and national assembly elections, Daily Trust reported.
A visit to Kongolam, a border town in Katsina state revealed that businesses have resumed.
Traders at the Mai Mujia market in Niger republic have since reopened their shops.
One of the traders, Abu Mode said even though their shops are located in the Niger Republic, they obeyed the Nigerian government directive.
“We did not open yesterday because of elections in Nigeria. Whatever happens in Nigeria, affect us here in Niger and that was why we did not open our shops since noon on Friday.
“Trading is yet to pick up fully because most of our customers are from Nigeria. Also, our customers who are from our country (Niger) go to Nigeria to buy things, and because there was an election in Nigeria, they are yet to start coming” he said.
Our correspondent reports that from Daura local government area in Katsina state, the trip to Mai Mujia is 15 minutes by car.
In Abuja, our reporters observed fuel stations were opened for business in many locations of the nation’s capital. A fuel attendant at Azman Petroleum station, Deborah Aliyu said they worker resumed at 7 am, the usual time for business.
Local shops and eateries were also opened for business within Abuja as customers were seen patronizing them.
At Jabi park being the largest central motor park in the city, passengers were seen boarding vehicles. A union member, Malam Garba Yusuf said the park was dry on Saturday as the members fully complied with the no movement directive.
“But today (yesterday) we resumed our normal routes and so far, everything seems normal according to some of our drivers who have travelled to other parts of the country.”
A supermarket operator in Gwarinpa, Chidi Okechukwu said he was glad the voting was relatively peaceful in the state capital.
“We are happy that security agents and Nigerians comported themselves. We hope that the atmosphere will be sustained until the winner of the Presidential election is announced by INEC, “he noted.
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