The Federal Government has maintained that there is no going back on the concessioning of Nigerian airports starting with the big four of Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt; even as President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a N45 billion severance package for workers of the liquidated Nigeria Airways. It reiterated that it can no longer sustain the funding of the 22 airports across the country hence, they will be concession.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, stated this while reacting to the resistance by workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), under the aegis of the Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN); and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) to the plans by government to concession the Lagos and Abuja Airports. Sirika assured that the process would be transparently done with the workers fully involved in the process.
The minister, who was fielding questions from State House Correspondents on Wednesday at the post-Federal Executive Council presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said that the Murtala Mohammed Airport was originally built to handle 200,000 travelers per annum but today it’s serving eight million per annum. He stressed that the government does not have the resources to upgrade the facilities to handle the increased volume of travelers.
A fortnight ago, the federal government gave approval for the concession of the nation’s four major airports, starting with the Lagos and Abuja Airport. Speaking about the protests opposing concession of airports, Sirika, “You will agree with me that this is not news, they have done so in the past. We are a democratic government and we recognize that it is their right to protests and what they are protesting is whether they will be job losses and labour issues.
And we have been very consistent and we have been engaging them. This time it will be very different. “At a time the concession of some government assets started, we were not knowledgeable in what concession entails but today we have the knowledge and it will be transparently done with active participation of workers in both the delivery and the steering committees to drive this process.
“What is more, come this Friday a portal will be put up by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), where all matters of concession will be available for anyone to see. Is an extra effort by this government to be so transparent in dealing with this type of situation. So, when it is transparently done, labour issues will be addressed within the process, you will agree with me is the best way to go.
“I had talked about concession as against the outright sale that was tried in by past governments. I read on the social media that I had stole N635 million but in the body of the story they said I had budgeted to spend it during concession. “I have to say that we have been meeting with them but the policy of the government is that we cannot fund aviation infrastructure today through public budgets. The money is not there.
We intend to get the private sector to come and put in their money. “Just to illustrate, Murtala Mohammed airport was built to cater for 200,000 people per annum but today it is doing eight million. The toilets and lifts in the airport were meant to serve 200,000 people per annum but now is serving eight million per annum. There is no single addition on that airport and we are growing as a people.
“At the time it was built we were 60 million people today we are 173 million. And we cannot continue to let the airport be like that and we do not have the money to invest and develop this airport. “In our opinion as a government and the policy has been done that it will go through concession, to give to some individuals who will build, operate, maintain, sustain, make money and government will also make money in the process and return to government after a number of years between 20 to 25 years. This will be transparently done, this is the catch phrase, so we are proceeding.”
Sirika disclosed that when the Buhari administration came to power, it resolved to concession all the airports as the only way to upgrade and develop airport facilities in the country adding that government can no longer fund infrastructure. He further disclosed that Buhari had approved the concession of all Nigerian airports two months after the administration assumed office. He said he had written to President Buhari on the roadmap and one of them is to concession all Nigerian airports. “Mr. President gave the approval to concession all Nigerian airports but to start with the big four – Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
And that approval was taken to council and it also approved Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano to start with. The rest will follow in due course. “On where are we today as regards concession, because of the procurement process and because of the Act establishing ICRC, we have come to the stage where we have appointed a transaction adviser, they were appointed and I briefed you here in this hall. They are to drive this process on concession.
We have commissioned them; we have given them part payment. They are to commence what is called the Outline Business Case which they will bring and we will take to council after which there will be full business case and then we will procure. “So, Abuja and Lagos are part of the big four that will be concession in this first phase.” Sirika said he also briefed the council on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) certified Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, 38 years after it commenced flight operations. He said the certification process began in 2006.
FG okays N45bn severance pay for ex-Nigeria Airways workers Sirika also told journalists that President Buhari has approved a N45 billion severance package for workers of the liquidated Nigeria Airways.
The affected workers had Wednesday in Lagos protested the Federal Government’s failure to pay their severance benefits running into N78 billion. The protesters had said they intended to draw government’s attention to their plight as many of them had died and others became homeless after the government liquidated the airline in 2003.
Sirika said, “Past governments decided to liquidate Nigeria Airway without tending to the issues of the entitlement of the workers and the workers have been struggling to get paid.
“This government when it came on board decided to take it seriously. And I am happy to announce that Mr. President has approved N45 billion which has been confirmed to be the entitlements of this workers and the Ministry of Finance has been instructed to pay. And the Ministry of Finance has written to me last week that they have received instructions to pay these workers and therefore they are going about setting up all the modalities to pay.
It will not be paid through my ministry before somebody will say I have stolen it. It will be paid by ministry of Finance through a process and that process will commence very soon. “So I’m very glad to say that this is also what this government has done. It took a long time for the workers of Nigeria Airways to be attended to and we thank them for their patience. Unfortunately we lost many of them; many of whom I have known personally.
So, this will soon be dealt with.” The Minister said Wednesday’s Council meeting approved the hosting of the International World Aviation Forum scheduled for Abuja for the 20th of November this year, where over 40 aviation ministers around the world are expected to be in attendance.
He said it is the first time the nation will be hosting such an event. Bi-Courtney reacts to workers’ protest However, following the protest embarked upon by workers of a concessionaire, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), against the Federal Government’s proposed concession of Lagos and Abuja airports by some stakeholders in the aviation industry, the firm has reacted to the protest march, saying it has performed well.
It would be recalled that, during the protest, the workers carried banners; and accused the company of preparing to take over the airports in collaboration with the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), without following due process.
A statement by the Head, Corporate Communications of BASL, Steve Omolale, said: “Ordinarily, we would have ignored this selfish, unwarranted and provocative accusation, but as the operators of the first successful, privately-funded, Design, Built, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) airport terminal in Nigeria, the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), and as a responsible corporate citizen, we must state categorically state our position for the benefit of the discerning public, who had been supportive of our efforts over the last decade; and particularly for all those who yearn for serious improvements in aviation services and infrastructure in the country.
“It is a known fact that over the last 10 years, the multiple award-winning MMA2 terminal, which has been adjudged as the best by various organisations, prominent Nigerians, the international community and most recently by the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, who enthused at the last Aviation Round Table (ART) that, if MMA2 is a mistake, let the mistake be replicated all over the country’, is an evidence of how the private sector can change the narrative of our aviation sector as is the case the world over.”
The statement said that, “Our superlative performance and pioneering efforts at MMA2 where we have consistently ensured that there is no total blackout in the last 10 years; where we have the capacity to facilitate four million passengers per annum with appropriate technology and continuous introduction of new innovations, such as self-service check-in kiosks, automated access gates and a Baggage Reconciliation System and where, though we are still grossly under-utilized, we currently handle about 50 flights daily to various destinations in Nigeria, attest to our competence and experience in airport terminal operations.”
According to Omolale, “If, indeed, there is any truth in the statements credited to the these protesters, we would like to assure the public that BASL is prepared to demonstrate again what it has achieved so far at MMA2, if given the opportunity to operate the airports being proposed for concessioning, because it is now very clear that only the private sector has the capacity to provide the needed infrastructure and technical know-how to help the Federal Government achieve its laudable objectives for the much-needed progress in the aviation industry.
“The aviation industry obviously needs to be revamped to bring the services and infrastructure standards to what is comparable elsewhere in the world with a clear focus on passenger facilitation and comfort all over the country. With our track record and experience at mma2, we are unequivocally committed to this objective and entitled to the option of first refusal for the airports being proposed for concession.
“Countries in Europe, especially Great Britain, which pioneered the idea of PPP in 1992 with its Private Finance Initiative (PFI), and even up to the United States of America, have since embraced the idea, and they are better for it today. Many developing countries are also embracing the model because of its numerous advantages and Nigeria should not be left behind.
In fact, the Jamaican government published the initial Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Policy documents, popularly called PPP3 in 2012, which has led to the government divesting its large interests from the Sangster International Airport.
“We, therefore, wish to enjoin well-meaning Nigerians and even those protesting against the decision to concession the airports that rather than oppose this arrangement, in the interest of national progress, they should request and ensure a guarantee of total transparency of the new process for the aviation industry to reap the full benefits of PPP, and of course, having pioneered this initiative successfully in Nigeria, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited should definitely not be left out.”
