Senate Reverses Airports Concession, Orders Probe
By Mike Odeh James
The Senate has passed a legislation ordering immediate reversal of concessioning of Aminu Kano and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airports in Kano and Abuja respectively. The reversal also affects all other airports concessioned in the final days of the immediate passed administration.
During the Senate’s sitting on Thursday, the upper arm of the federal legislature ordered a thorough probe of the process leading to the concession.
This follows the passing of a motion against the process raised by Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila (Kano South).
The Senate unanimously agreed that the decision be suspended until it’s committee on Aviation thoroughly investigates the process and report back whole senate.
In his contribution, deputy president of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin who presided over the plenary disclosed that “concessioning of public infrastructure is good as it opens the way for more investments and the recruitment of experts and professionals for effective and smooth running of such, but it must be subjected to a transparent process”.
Senator Jibrin added that concessioning is a globally acceptable way to get the best services but it should be the result of an open contest with interested parties being accorded a level playing ground.
The deputy senate president regretted the manner in which the Aviation Ministry under former Minister Hadi Sirika hurried the process in secrecy.
“Concession is what is in vogue all over the world because in most cases, governments are bad business managers. The Heathrow Airport in London is was remarkably concessioned to a Nigerian, and is doing very well”, says Jibrin. He added that although there is need for investigation, he will still vote for concession, but the process must be done in a transparent manner.
Earlier in his motion, Senator Sumaila stated that the Federal Executive Council had on 17th May, 2023 approved the concession of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, for 30 years to Messrs Corporación America Airports Consortium.
He noted that the Ministry of Aviation 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.
Senator Sumaila added that “the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission procedure states with respect to the agency that wishes to concession a facility that the public entity should have enabling authority to transfer it’s responsibility enabling legislative and policy framework or an Administrative order to that effect. This therefore, reflects that the combined import of the FAAN Act and the ICRC procedures manual is an evident manifestation that the entire airports’ concession was 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 it’s responsibility to a would-be concessionaire”.
“I am convinced that if the claim that the immediate passed FEC approved the concession of MAKIA, Kano has any su stance, then the council has indeed been misguided in it’s decision, and that action cannot amount to anything than a nullity”.
“I am worried about the rationale in borrowing and spending public funds to upgrade the airport only to hand it over to foreign businesses for a period of 30 years in the name of concession. Nigeria is receiving an upfront concession fees of only $1.5m while the total amount of money that the Kano airport generates is $97.4m. I am concerned that this concession is clearly dubious and raises questions on the process and what the actors stand to gain”.
