FG Gives Go Ahead For Concession Of Lagos, Abuja Airports

The Federal Government said it has given approval for the concession of the two major airports in the country: Lagos and Abuja.

The Federal Government made this known today through the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

Osinbajo disclosed that the Federal Executive Council(FEC) has agreed that the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport(NAA) Abuja, should be concessioned.

Osinbajo revealed this in his Twitter post via @NGRPresident, while speaking at the fifth edition of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum at the State House, Abuja said, “I am pleased to say that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the concessioning of the Lagos and Abuja airports.”

The confirmation of the concession of these airports is coming a year after the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika began the concession process by inaugurating two committees; Project Steering Committee and Project Delivery Committee to drive the process.

This is also coming amid pockets of protests against the concessioning of the major airports.

Sirika had stated while inaugurating the steering committee in Abuja that its mandate was to provide direction and steer the course of Public Private Partnership (PPP) project concessions in the aviation sector.

He had also stated during the inauguration that the decision by the Federal Government to concession the airports was the over-riding national interest in ensuring the establishment and sustenance of world class standards in both infrastructural development and service delivery.

He said that the misgivings some people have expressed concerning the exercise was borne out of mis-conception that concession is synonymous with privatisation, adding that the entities lined up for concession remained the property of the Federal Government and would enhance job creation.

The committee’s terms of reference according to Sirika include the approval of technical, financial and legal framework for the successful preparation and execution of the concession; provision of policy guidelines and general direction on all matters relating to PPP and concession of projects and programmes in the aviation sector.

The committees were also mandated to consider and facilitate necessary permits, clearances and carry relevant stakeholders along in the processing of PPP / concession matters; they are to approve action plans, budgets and financial requests submitted by the Project Delivery Committee. The committee would serve as the final decision-making body on PPP Concession matters on air transport generally.

Members of the committee are: Permanent Secretary Ministry of Transport, relevant Chief Executive Officers, Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Director of Planning of the Ministry of Transportation, representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Budget and National Planning, the Ministry of Finance, and the Deputy Director of the PPP Unit in the ministry who will serve as the secretary.

In another development , Sirika while inaugurating the Project Delivery Committee had charged members to be diligent and patriotic in the implementation of the decisions and policy guidelines as approved by the Steering Committee, as their success or failure would determine the fate of the whole process.