The federal government on Monday emphasised that the majority of the country’s airports are a drain pipe on government resources as they continue to receive subsidies to maintain and run them hence the need for their concession to allow private equities and investors run and manage them.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo affirmed that the federal government is considering proposals for the concession of five major airports adding that it is taking proactive measures to ensure the vital facilities can meet and maintain international standards, given the increasing financial demands of their operations.
Keyamo, who was responding to what he described as certain online reports and stories suggesting that a certain lengthy period of concession has been agreed upon regarding the Enugu International Airport debunked the reports and stories as utterly baseless and untrue.
The Minister said “Many of our airports are presently running at a loss, so they have to be subsidised each month by the Federal Government. It is noteworthy that this initiative to concession started from previous administrations.”
He said “At this stage, prospective concessionaires have indeed submitted various proposals, including different durations for the concession. It is important to emphasize that the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development has not established any fixed duration.
All submitted proposals are currently undergoing thorough evaluation that will eventually be reviewed by the ICRC before it is presented to the Minister for conveyance to FEC for approval. We can confirm that this review process has not been concluded.”
An electronic statement by Tunde Moshood, Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister noted that “However, for the sake of transparency, the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN directed, some months ago that the Aviation Labour Unions be included as part of the negotiating teams.”
“Therefore, we must state unequivocally that the information suggesting a predetermined concession duration is false, unfounded, and intended to cause unwarranted disaffection and mistrust in this process by those with entrenched interests.” The document noted.
