The federal government is at an advanced stage of the concession of four major airport facilities in the country, as many companies both local and international have expressed interest.
In October the federal government announced that many companies had expressed interest in the concession and THISDAY gathered that out of about 13 companies that indicated an interest in the concession, only three were indigenous. They faulted the federal government for not giving a company like Bi-Courtney the opportunity of first refusal before seeking to advertise the bidding process abroad. They added that Bi-Courtney, over the years, has proven capacity to deliver and has all it takes to manage the international airports.
“We need a unitary security control for the multiple security agencies in the airports. The multiple agencies and multiple controls bring conflict of interest and put airport security and national security in danger. This is the reason for the establishment of the Transport Security Administration of the US,” Ojikutu said.
“We have just one experienced company in Nigeria today. The alternative we, therefore, have for Bi-Courtney could be a foreign company in the absence of a credible local company. Bi-Courtney experience in airport management is unique because it is BOT . Unfortunately, the model of the planned concession is still not well defined or transparent.
“I repeat what we already know which is: will successive governments and their institutions respect the terms in the concession agreement? Hurdles to clear also include the issue of existing concessionaires within the current four viable airports. Nigerians are financing and managing more complex institutions than the four airports planned for concession. Air Peace is more complex to manage than Enugu airport, or Port Harcourt airport, or Lagos airport. Dangote conglomerate is much more complex.