ICAO elects Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu as new president of ICAO Council

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) announced (19-Nov-2013) that Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu of Nigeria has been elected as the new president of the ICAO Council. Dr Aliu's election by acclamation was confirmed when the 36 States which comprise ICAO's Governing Council registered their unanimous agreement during the body's 200th Session. He will officially take over the reins as ICAO Council president beginning 01-Jan-2014 for a three-year term. Dr Aliu remarked, "Aviation today faces many challenges but its role in expanding tourism and market access has never been more important to modern society and to the local, regional and global economic players who rely so significantly today on safe and dependable air transport connectivity. I will look forward to working with my Council colleagues over the next triennium, with the support of the ICAO Air Navigation Commission and Secretariat, as we seek to address aviation's key areas of priority." Prior to his election as its president, Dr Aliu served for eight years as the ICAO Council's Nigerian Representative (2005-2013). He was also director of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority's Air Transport Regulation Directorate (2000-2004), and chairman for the formulation of African Civil Aviation Policy under the African Union (2009-2011). Dr Aliu follows the departing council president, Roberto Kobeh González of Mexico, who was elected in Mar-2006 after Dr Assad Kotaite retired prematurely before the end of his term. Dr Aliu becomes only the fifth president of the ICAO Council in the almost 70-year history of the specialised United Nations aviation agency, which is responsible for the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) and the over 10,000 international civil aviation standards contained in the Convention's Annexes. [more - original PR]