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Turkish, Saudi firms, others submit bid for Lagos, Abuja airports
- Successful bidders to scale three stages before FEC approval
A Turkish and two Saudi Arabian companies are said to have submitted bids for the concessioning of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja according to former Commandant, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Grp. Captain John Ojikutu (Rtd).
He however declined to disclose the names of the firms but maintained that information from government indicated that the firms from the countries he mentioned may clinch the deal.
Ojikutu who was at the National Assembly public hearing told Woleshadare.net that firms from those nations may not be the only ones, adding that there could be more including European and Canadian companies.
His words, “I have just arrived from Abuja this afternoon after attending a NASS public hearing on airports concession on Wednesday. I had a very sad day from all I heard at the hearing. All that changed this morning having met one of my reliable friends in the Ministry of Transportation who broke it all into pieces for a better understanding of discerning minds”.
“It could be true that Turkish and Saudi companies are bidding for the airports concession but from what I heard today, they may not be the only ones. There could be more including European and Canadian companies.
Ojikutu who is also a chieftain of Aviation Round Table (ART), a group of aviation think tank disclosed that there would be public biddings that would be advertised before the three stages that the process would undergo.
He listed the stages as the infrastructure concession commission stage, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) stage, the Ministry of Justice input before it gets the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval followed by the advertisement in the newspapers.
He stated that he expected the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika to have a stakeholders’ meeting where he would do a presentation where everyone would erase the doubts they have over the decision to concession the facilities while the process is on-going.
He advised that the one day presentation should be on airports concession; national carriers; Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) and Aerotropolis.
“Some of us advised that the presentation should be held for four days to address each of the issues sufficiently otherwise two days; one day for airports concession and aerotropolis and the second day for the national carriers and MRO. The second day outing should clear whatever doubts of any stakeholders has. Let all keep our gunpowder dry for these days”.
Another aviation consultant who spoke to our correspondent on strict condition of anonymity said an Ambassador friend of his asked him why Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia firms are specifically interested in Abuja Airport.
He wondered why there is so much interest in the Lagos and Abuja airports without a thought for the Port-Harcourt International Airport which is said is begging for attention and upgrade.
Just last month, the Federal Government approved the concession of Kano and Port-Harcourt airports as well as transaction advisers for the process.
Sirika said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port-Harcourt airports be under concession. The Federal Executive Council has also approved it as well. FEC has also approved transaction advisers for the airports and they will start the process soon.”
The Secretary General, National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) Olayinka Abioye stated that the aviation unions would continue to mobilise and frustrate the government’s plan to concession the airports without discussing with them.
He said, “The government needs to engage the unions before it can consider the concession of the airports and tackle the issues that will arise from the c
oncession, including job losses, which should be properly looked into.
“The Minister must also demonstrate transparency on the concession of these airports. FAAN already has 64 legal cases over concession that have not been resolved, yet the government wants to go ahead to concession the airports”.
National President, Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Illitrus Ahmadu said the workers were opposed to the concession of airports because the process was not clear to them.
“We will use every instrument at our disposal to battle the government and frustrate the concession of the airports”, he said.
