NIGERIA: Aviation Stakeholders Back NASS, Call For Investigation

Stakeholders in the Nigerian avi­ation industry have thrown their weights behind the call by the Sen­ate for the review of the two inter­national airports concessioned in the twilight of the last administra­tion.

The stakeholders, like the mem­bers of the upper chamber of the National Assembly, said that the project lacked transparency, but feared about the consequences of truncating such an agreement. ­

One of the industry unions also promised to work with the National Assembly in unraveling some of the hidden facts of the conces­sion exercise as executed by Sen. Hadi Sirika, the immedi­ate past Minister of Aviation.

The union, however, reit­erated that it supported air­ports concession, but insisted it must not be skewed against the Nigerian populace, work­ers and the government.

Dr. Alex Nwuba, the Pres­ident, Aircraft Owners & Pi­lots Association of Nigeria (AOPAN), said that the air­ports concession and other major projects embarked upon by Sirika needed total review as canvassed by the Senate.

Nwuba expressed the doubt if the project was transparently done, claim­ing that the nitty-gritty of the projects was not known to the public.

According to him, his in­teraction with the employees of the Federal Airports Au­thority of Nigeria (FAAN) indicated that the project was badly executed.

According to him, rather for the past administration to insist on going ahead with the project in the eleventh hour as it did, the govern­ment could have suspended it and allowed the new gov­ernment to continue from where it stopped.

He maintained that this could have prevented the last minute crisis that engulfed the industry.

Nwuba, however, feared that the truncation of the project by the new govern­ment may put the country in a bad light in the comity of nations, while investors would as usual be wary of investing in the country.

He said: “It is unfortunate that we have entered into an agreement; transparent or not and everybody accused the last minister of aviation of lack of transparency. It is the same lack of transparen­cy that resorted into the cri­sis that followed the attempt to create a national carrier for the country and it was only one person that showed up to bid because others were sure it was not going to be a fair and transparent process.

“We don’t know what it en­tails, but these are the things that we need to examine. There is no question about it that we didn’t do the right thing in the country in the plans we made at the very tail end of the last adminis­tration.

“We are still talking about P&ID issue as to the breach of contract. If we be in breach now, what are the consequences of that breach? So, we must address it. It is not enough to say it is a bad deal, let’s get out of it, we have already made the deal and what deal did we make and how do we get out of it at the minimum cost to the Nigerian economy?

“We can’t be seen as a country that makes agree­ment and then the next administration comes on to cancel it. They say gov­ernment is a continuum. At what point does one say this new administration will not honour the obligation of the prior administration? With­out that kind of continuity as we say in government, we are really not good for deals and there is really no deal done in this sector that are good for four years

“We should be looking at 20 to 50 years projections whatever the case may be. So, somebody cannot enter into a 20 years deal and in four years, it gets truncated. We really need to be more cir­cumspect.”

Besides, Comrade Ocheme Aba, the General Secretary, National Union of Air Trans­port Employees (NUATE), expressed delight with the decision of the National As­sembly to review the airports concession process.

According to him, the de­cision showed that some key people in government were listening to the voice of the Nigerian people and assured that the unions would partic­ipate in the public hearing on the matter.

Aba, however, said that the review could not be con­cluded as cancellation yet until the National Assembly comes out with its report, maintaining that the unions believe in concession, but must be transparently done.

Aba also queried the ratio­nale behind the concession exercise and the aspects of the industry that were con­cessioned by the past admin­istration.

He questioned FAAN’s share in the concession, main­taining that the investments of the concessionaires were also shrouded in secrecy.

The union leader further interrogated how the govern­ment arrived at a concession period for each concession­aire, declaring that there are more questions than an­swers.

“It is not really a summer­sault in that even the person that moved the motion stated clearly that he would contin­ue to vote for concession. So, he was particular about the manner in which this con­cession was carried out and I think that is the concern of everybody, including the unions.

“We have not kicked against concession, but there should be a concession that is beneficial to all the stakeholders, including the workers. It can be done, but it must be beneficial to the country, the industry, FAAN and the workers. That is what we are seeking and examples are bound everywhere in the world,” he said.

The Senate had last Thursday passed legislation against the concession of Mallam Aminu Kano Inter­national Airport (MAKIA), Kano and Nnamdi Aziki­we International Airport (NAIA), Abuja

The Senate’s resolve to probe the concession of the airports followed a motion by Sen. Sumaila Kawu, rep­resenting Kano South.

Kawu highlighted that a thorough analysis of FAAN Act and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Com­mission (ICRC) procedures manual revealed flaws in the foundation of the concession process.

Recall that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation had on May 18, 2023, concessioned Abuja and Kano airports.

Sirika, the immediate past Minister of Aviation, who midwifed the project had said that the concessioning exer­cise came after the approv­al of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

He mentioned the Corpo­racion American Airport Consortium as the preferred bidder, which comprises the Corporation American Air­ports, Mota Engil Africa, and Mota Engil Nigeria.

He also said that the Cor­poracion American Airport Consortium would make up­front payments of $7 million for NAIA and $1.5 million for MAKIA.

He also said that during the concession period, total projected nominal revenues accruable from the combined concession of NAIA and MA­KIA exceed $4 billion, which he claimed over 70 percent of these projected revenues would be payable to the Fed­eral Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

He also said that the con­cessioning of Abuja and Kano airports were in align­ment with the Aviation Road­map, approved by former President Muhammadu Bu­hari on October 18, 2016, and signified the ministry’s com­mitment towards revitalising the nation’s aviation sector.

He said the partnership arrangement would be effec­tive for 20 years for NAIA and 30 years for MAKIA.

Source: independent.ng