The Senate condemn in strong terms the Concessioning of the Mallam Amina Kano International Airport,(MAKIA), Kano, as it was not done in public interest.
The condemnation was done today Thursday at the plenary after Senator Kawu Sumaila from Kano South has moved a motion requesting the review of the concession of the airport.
It also Urged the federal government to, review the entire concession and” give a level playing field to all stakeholders.
The Senate notes that the Federal Executive Council, on 17th May, 2023, approved the concessioning of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano for 30 years, to Messrs Corporacién America Airports Consortium;
According to the Senate the Federal Ministry of Aviation (and Aerospace) 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 (FAAN),
It said the ownership and management of all federal government airports are fully vested in the Authority of FAAN not on the Ministry.
Therefore, the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) procedure document states, with respect to the agency that wishes to concession a facility that, “The public entity should have enabling authority to transfer its responsibility – enabling legislative and policy framework.
The Senate reflects that, from the combined import of the FAAN Act and the ICRC procedures manual, is an evident manifestation that the entire airports concession is based on an incurably faulty foundation. For, there is no doubt that it is the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, not the Ministry of Aviation, that has power ‘to transfer its responsibility’ to a would be concessionaire. It is also FAAN, not the Ministry, which has the requisite ‘legislative & policy framework’ for such.
The Senate is convinced that if the claim that the FEC has approved the concessioning of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport has any substance, then the FEC has indeed been misguided in its decision, and that action cannot amount to anything than a nullity.
It was worried about the rational in borrowing and spending public money to upgrade the airport only to hand it over to foreign businesses for a period of 30 years in the name of a concession.
The Senate was alarmed that Nigeria is receiving a concession fees or upfront of $1.5m while the total amount of money that the Kano airport is accruing to government is $97.4m;
It was disturbed that this concession is clearly dubious and raise questions on the process and what the actors stand to gain;
Recalls that unions in the aviation industry embarked on a strike to question the integrity of the concession exercise, stressing that the concession of the airport away from FAAN would necessarily cause a cessation of the employment of all the staff involuntarily;
The Senate expressed worries that the concession by the Buhari-led administration raises a fundamental question of injustice on why an elephant project with huge public investment would take place just at the end of the administration.
