Chinedu Eze
A Chinese construction company, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has stopped work at the international terminal of the nation’s gateway, Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos over the plan by the federal government to concession the facility and others in three major airports, which conflicts with the initial agreement that led to Chinese Exim bank loan used to construct the terminal and the ones in Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt airports.
THISDAY learnt that CCECC had to abandon the project at advanced stage because the initial agreement indicated that after building the facility and three others at the major airports, the company would recoup its investment by operating the terminal for a given period of time, but now that agreement seemed to be in jeopardy as the federal government is advanced stage of concession the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airport terminals.
THISDAY also learnt that besides the confusion over government’s policy summersault, CCECC is being owed by the federal government for a contract, which started off from $500 million Chinese loan and $100 million counterpart funding to about $1 billion, which government hopes would be defrayed by the company’s management of the terminals for a given period of time.
Informed source told THISDAY that the company had sought a meeting with the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika to clarify the conflicting areas in government’s later decision to concession the facilities and the agreement it entered with the government in 2013 for the construction of four airport terminals, especially on the recoup of its investment in the facilities.
The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Captain Rabiu Yadudu had announced earlier in the year that the new terminal at the Lagos international airport would go on stream before the end of the first quarter of 2021, after it failed to be operational in December last year but due to slow work and eventual withdrawal of construction by CCECC, the terminal is yet to be completed.
The terminals at the Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports have started operation but the Lagos facilities, which is expected to process about 15 million passengers per annum is yet to be completed.
FAAN generates 60 per cent of its monthly revenue from the Lagos airport alone and the plan to concession the airport despite opposition from stakeholders and labour worry the management of CCECC.
The General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Ocheme Aba, told THISDAY that the conflicting policies by the federal government showed that it was not serious about what it wants to do with the airport infrastructure because the agreement it has with the Chinese government before it accessed the Exim bank loan was that the contractor would recoup its investment by running the terminals for a time, which is akin to concession.
“Not only that the debt had risen from the initial $500 million loan to about $1 billion, but government seemed to be contradicting itself because the principle of the agreement is like concession. CCECC and government agreed that the company would have a firm order to receive a particular amount of money every month from the revenues of the terminal to a dedicated account. Although it is a loan repayment but it is like concession,” Aba told THISDAY.
Informed source also told THISDAY, “Although government still owes the contractor some amount of money as spelt out in the contractual term, but the company is more worried about the insistence of the government to concession some of the airports, especially the Lagos airport terminal.
“The company is not convinced that it would get back its investment once it is concessioned to a concessionaire. So, it is bothered about this. The company had sought a meeting with the Minister, but I’m not sure if anything tangible has come out of it,” the source said.
When contacted, the General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu told THISDAY that she was yet to confirm if the Chinese company has stopped work.
CCECC had commenced construction of four new terminals at Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports in 2013 with completion period fixed for 20 months.
