Date: 2017-01-14

Following the announcement on the President of the Senate's private handle stating that the Minister of State for Aviation, Former Senator Hadi Sirika, would be briefing the Senate on the proposed six-week closure of the Abuja Airport, and the treatment of passengers by airline operators, Nigerian Twitter users, today commended the Senate and the Senate President, for the Senate's quick response.

Recall that on Tuesday, on Tuesday, January 10th, the first sitting of the Upper Chamber in 2017, the Senate passed a Motion, which called on the Senate Committee on aviation to thoroughly investigate the root causes of the challenges in the aviation industry; urged the Federal Aviation Authority to immediately put in place the necessary regulatory mechanisms to arrest the dwindling fortunes in the industry; and urged the Consumer Protection Commission to take the necessary steps to protect the rights and privileges of Nigerian passengers.

In tweets to the Senates @NGRSenate account and the Senate President's @Bukola Saraki account, Yusuf Bashirat Boyi, who uses the handle @GovBashirat said "@bukolasaraki swifts to action on the big issues on our aviation section this shows how patriot[ic] the 8th @NGRSenate is, kudos to you guys."

Another user, Mufasa, with the handle, @TheNGRInvasion, commended the Senate and Saraki saying "you've done well. Acting fast was not only necessary, it might have just saved some lives."

Baba Fesfes, whose handle is @Babafes2, weighed in on the issue, stating that the safety of the people should come first in the Senate's interaction with the Minister on the issues in the aviation sector.

Other Twitter users like @OnyekachiAjibo , urged the Senate not to allow for the complete shutdown of the airport, stating that he had "Never seen a thing like that."

The Senate live-tweeted and live-broadcasted its interaction with the Minister of State on its Twitter and Facebook handles respectively.