The House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets has accused the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and its private partners of abusing concession and public-private partnership (PPP) agreements, allegedly denying the government its due revenue.
At an investigative hearing, Committee Chairman Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos) revealed that some companies continue to operate despite the expiration of their lease and concession agreements with FAAN, without any legal backing or evidence of payment to the concession account.
As a result, the committee has summoned FAAN’s Managing Director, Mrs. Bunmi Kuku, to address the alleged irregularities in the agency’s PPP arrangements.
Kuye stated that the probe aligns with the committee’s mandate and public concerns regarding PPP abuses in the aviation sector.
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The panel directed FAAN’s MD to submit all relevant lease and concession documents to the committee by Thursday, March 6, 2025, and mandated her and the management team to appear before it.
The committee criticized the continued operations of expired concessions as a deliberate attempt to shortchange the federal government and vowed to address the situation.
According to the committee, some of the companies whose concessions have expired but still operating include NAHCO, concession to operate as handling company in all airports in Nigeria, expired since December 2017; Infra Oil Ltd, lease for petrol station, Enugu, expired since November 2023; Jasmine Gardens, lease for recreational garden, Benin, expired since April 2024; Sahara Energy Resources Ltd, lease for construction and operation of aviation fuel depot, Calabar, Owerri and Port Harcourt expired since June 2024 (Calabar and Owerri) while that of Port Harcourt expired in March 2023.
Kuye said while these concessions and several other leases have expired, the companies continue with the operations in the facilities without reviews and necessary payments to the concession account.
He said despite significant amount of money concessionaires and lessees make from toll gates and other services from all Nigerian airports, there is no clear evidence of payment of concession fees, surcharge and other payments accruable to the federal government.
He said concessionaires are charging exorbitant fees at the nation’s airport without paying anything to the government.
According to him, One of such exorbitant chargea is the N25,000 charges by a company for a car drop from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to any nearby location in Abuja.
The committee said FAAN banned all taxi drivers and commercial vehicles in order to allow only this company, to operate car hire service unchallenged without any commensurate payment to the government account.