Business

Suspend airport concession plan; Reps ask Federal Government

Published

3 years ago

2020/11/02

The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to suspend the plan to concession airports until all issues have been addressed.

The House Committee on Aviation, while expressing displeasure at the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, for failing to appear before it in Abuja on Monday, said it had been receiving petitions against the move.

Four international airports are billed for concession to private operators. They are the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.

Chairman of the committee, Nnolim Nnaji, said, “Among the concerns were the lack of transparency in the exercise, labour issues, the Chinese loans, the legal issues that may arise from the existing concessions and the lack of proper valuation of the present status of the affected airports, among others.

“Based on the outcome of the meeting with the labour unions, the committee invited the Minister of Aviation and the heads of agencies under him to discuss the issue of the airports’ concession. Several dates were fixed for the meeting but for one reason or the other, they failed to attend.

“In view of this, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation hereby requests that the concession of the four airports should be put on hold pending the resolution of the contentious issues raised by the unions and other stakeholders to avoid industrial actions that may further cripple the already distressed industry.”

In June, the Federal Government commenced the concession process for four new International Airport Terminals selected across the country. They are airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt (PH) and Kano.