Senator Orji Uzor Kalu says some pilots operating in Nigeria’s aviation industry smoke Indian hemp.
Kalu levelled this allegation on Wednesday, October 15, while speaking during plenary in support of a motion that raised safety concerns following the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau’s (NSIB) report on the Air Peace runway incident at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
On July 13, a Lagos-Port Harcourt Air Peace flight P47190 skidded off the runway upon landing.
Moving the motion, Abdulfatai Buhari, senator representing Oyo north and chairman of the senate committee on aviation, said the incident involving an Air Peace Boeing 737-500 occurred on June 22, 2025. Buhari said while no life was lost, the event exposed “critical gaps in safety standards, infrastructure management, and operational compliance” within Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Seconding the motion, Kalu said some pilots are “careless and not properly supervised” by the authorities.
“The authorities guiding these pilots, some of them are very lousy. Some of the pilots are not prepared. Some of them smoke Indian hemp and some of them are not properly audited by the authorities. They are not doing it.
Most of these pilots are so careless. All these agencies must look after these pilots and cabin staff. Some of the NCAA must come back to their duty. Also, some of the runways are not in good shape.” he said
