The Senate has kicked against the concession of Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; and other international airports across the country.
The Senate took this decision following a motion by Senator Sumaila Kawu (NNPP, Kano South).
According to the Senate, the next committee on Aviation should investigate the ministry and agencies involved to report back to the Senate.
It condemned the concessions of the airports which were conceded in the same way as they were not done in public interest.
“the Senate therefore, urged the federal government to review the entire process and give a level playing field to all stakeholders.”
The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary, said concession was the best way to move forward as it was one of the best practices all over the world, but noted that it must be done transparently instead of being in secrecy as was done in the previous administration under the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
Barau said, “Concession is what is in vogue all over the world because the government is a bad manager of business, even the Heathrow airport was conceded to a Nigerian. And the airport is doing really well.
“Although these things must be investigated, I would still vote for concession, but it must be done in a transparent manner.”
According to Kawu, the Federal Executive Council, on May 17, 2023, approved the concession of the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano for 30 years, to Messrs Corporación America Airports Consortium.
He said the Federal Ministry of Aviation (and Aerospace) does not own, or run, any airport in Nigeria and that by the dictates of the governing Act of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, ownership and management of all federal government airports are fully vested in the Authority.
Kawu said, “The Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission procedure document states, with respect to the agency that wishes to concession a facility that, “The public entity should have enabling authority to transfer its responsibility enabling legislative and policy framework or an Administrative Order to that effect;
“This reflects that the combined import of the FAAN Act and the ICRC procedures manual is an evident manifestation that the entire airports’ concession is based on an incurably faulty foundation.
“There is no doubt that it is the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, not the Ministry of Aviation, that has the power to transfer its responsibility’ to a would-be concessionaire.”
The Kano lawmaker further argued that it was the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, not the Ministry, which has the requisite ‘legislative & policy framework’ for such.”
“I am convinced that if the claim that the FEC has approved the concession of Malam Aminu Kano International Airport has any substance, then the FEC has indeed been misguided in its decision, and that action cannot amount to anything than a nullity;
“I am worried about the rationale in borrowing and spending public money to upgrade the airport only to hand it over to foreign businesses for a period of 30 years in the name of a concession”
He added that he was more alarmed that “Nigeria is receiving a concession fees or upfront of $1.5m while the total amount of money that the Kano airport is accruing to government is $97.4m
“Disturbed that this concession is clearly dubious and raises questions on the process and what the actors stand to gain.”
Kawu said the unions in the aviation industry had questioned the integrity of the concession, stressing that the concession of the airport away from FAAN would necessarily cause a cessation of the employment of all the staff involuntarily.
Kawu added that it was more worrisome that “the concession by the Buhari-led administration raises a fundamental question of injustice on why an elephant project with huge public investment would take place just at the end of the administration.
“It is also observed that there are faulty gaps inherent in the concession that would lead to an array of lawsuits and thereby embarrass the current administration,” Senator Kawu said.
