•Row over airport terminal deepens
The war of attrition between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited over the ownership of the remodelled General Aviation Terminal (GAT) at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, is still raging . According to FAAN, the truth has not been told about the status of the terminal.
faan, according to its spokesman, Mr Yakubu Dati, explained that it is imperative to explain the ownership status of the terminal following what he calls misrepresentations by Bi-Courtney. The firm, which manages the MMA2 terminal, is claiming ownership of the facility.
dati was reacting to a statement by the firm’s spokesman Mr Steve Omolale-Ajulo, that the terminal does not belong to FAAN.
dati said: “ It is an open secret that Bi-Courtney, in a desperate bid to also deceive unwary Nigerians, has taken it upon itself to engaged in a campaign of calumny against both the Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for standing up against the company’s well-known penchant for taking undue advantage of its business partners, especially government agencies.
“This has been done through several sponsored articles using different channels to propagate lies to the public. Other times it had gone overboard to sponsor faceless individuals to do its bidding.
“We know that the case between FAAN and BASL has not been finally decided by the judiciary, so we will limit our response to his article and present facts that will debunk the lies and expose the mischief contained so that the public is not deceived.
“The pertinent question remains, agreement approved by who? Does the Ministry of Aviation and FAAN have the authority to cede government property to a third party or concessionaire, without the approval of the Federal Executive Council, which approved the initial concession in the first place?
“It should be noted that it is not in all the cases that a minister’s action receives the approval of Mr President and some ministers have been relieved of their portfolios or meted with stricter measures because of such illegal or irrational actions.
“The fact is that the draft agreement for the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) of the Domestic Terminal 1 was for a total cost of N3.9billion and the tenure of the agreement was 12 years, dully approved by the Federal Executive Council. This is the only authentic agreement.
“Immediately after this agreement, Bi-Courtney organised a consortium of banks and got a loan facility to the tune of N38billion contrary to the terms of the agreement which pegged the cost at N3.9billion. Bi-Courtney then proceeded to build a different design that was not agreed nor approved by FAAN. This was the genesis of Bi-Courtney’s predicament.
“The company after realising its folly now approached a consultant KPMG on how long it would take to recoup the N38billion. The consultant findings revealed that it would take 36 years.
“Their co-travellers at the Ministry also got another consultant, who recommended 45 years! Realising this dilemma, they started various divisive antics on how to get an elongation of tenure of the initial agreement through their connections at the helms of affairs at that time.
“They approached the former President, the late Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua, to authorise an elongation; predictably, he out-rightly refused them because it was not in the overall interest of the nation.
“They again went back to a former Minister of Aviation, and persuaded one of his Personal Assistants contrary to government’s regulation who gave them a purported letter of approval extending the tenure to 36 years. It is this fraudulent and criminal document they have been brandishing around as official approval for this bogus project.
“Furthermore, the company got another purported approval from a former Attorney-General, who set up a committee, got people who are not staff of FAAN to be the members of the committee, to extend the tenure to 36 years.
“All the so-called approvals were without any FEC approval. There was none, whatsoever from DPP, ICRC and other mandatory organs. We challenge Bi-Courtney to produce any formal approval, for extension of the tenure of agreement by FEC, and bring this out to the public domain.
“The purported approvals are not in the best interest of the nation and people who ought to be in jail are busy misinforming the public in pursuit of greedy, selfish interest.
“Bi-Courtney is the one talking about its predicament so, the onus is on it to justify this so-called predicament imposed by government, by publishing the document signed by the same government granting it a 36-year concession and the ownership of GAT.
“If Bi-Courtney does not take up this challenge, it is an admission that the company is suffering from a self-imposed predicament, engendered by greed and insincerity, to say the least.
“Nigerians should appreciate this government for deciding to put an end to the discrepancies and criminal tendencies associated with many concession agreements of the past, no matter who is involved in these concessions.
“The overall best interest of the country should override the narrow and parochial interests of a few self-serving government officials and fraudulent investors.
“In the words of Abraham Lincoln: ‘You can fool some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.’ The game is up for Bi-Courtney.”
•Dati is General Manager, Corporate Communication, FAAN
