Eromosele Abiodun
Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, (BASL) has called on the federal government to grant it right of first refusal in the planned concession of airports across the country having shown that it has capacity and expertise to run an airport.
Also, Bi-Courtney said the plan by the federal government to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the years ahead will be jeopardized if foreigners are allowed to take over critical government assets and employ their own country men rather than employing Nigerians.
Speaking to news men in Lagos, Group Executive Director, Resort International Limited, Mr Luqman Balogun said having managed MMA2 successfully for 14 years, Bi-Courtney has proven beyond reasonable doubt that it has the capacity to deliver.
Bi-Courtney, he added, has a robust plan to develop the infrastructure at the aiport if given the chance to run it.
Part of the plan, he revealed, is to build a monorail between local and international airport to aid seamless movement between the airports.
He called on the federal government to give Bi-Courtney the needed support to turn around the aviation sector in the country.
According to him, Bi-“Courtney has successfully operated MMA2 for 14 years, this is despite the fact that the Airport Authority of Nigerian (FAAN) has refused to abide to the concession agreement by operating the General Aviation Terminal (GAT).
There are four airports about to be concessioned, the federal government should support local investors who have shown capacity to turn the industry around. We have shown that we can manage the airport because we have done so for 14 years. The federal government should also consider national security in concessioning the airports. Nigeria is a unique environment, many foreigners have come here and failed we don’t want a repeat on this failure at the airport. This is why are a appealing as stakeholders to be given the chance to manage the international airport.”
He said FAAN continuous running of the GAT is wrong because FAAN cannot be an operator and a regulator in the same sphere.
“This clearly creates a conflict of interest situation. First, it enables FAAN to have the power to suppress the business of other private companies using regulatory powers. Second, it enables FAAN to be able to compete with private companies and businesses using government funds, “the statement added.
Bi-Courtney said the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) concession between it, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria spanning 2003 to 2017, lead to a loss of over 50 per cent of passenger traffic due to FAAN’s operation of General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and over N14.4 billion of available revenue from passenger flights.
“In total, Bi-Courtney Limited has suffered over N50 billion in business losses since 2007. The situation has led to the inability to meet loan repayment obligations to banks from the earnings of MMA2. Based upon the rights conferred on BCL by the concession agreement, we raised funds privately and borrowed money from banks to build the terminal,” the statement added.
BASL stated that the FAAN Act provides for a governing board for FAAN, but stated that there has been no board for FAAN for the last five years.
“In the absence of a Board, it is noteworthy that an interim board presumably has been in charge of FAAN for the last five years. This position is anomalous. The tenure of the governing board as provided in section 2(2) is four (4) years. Based on this, we cannot have an interim board that has been in place for five (5) years purportedly to act for the board. This is unlawful. In the same vein, the purported Section 26(1) of the FAAN Bill which expects FAAN to discontinue the use of any airport maintained by FAAN must clearly provide that this provision cannot apply to airports and terminals that are owned by private institutions, “Bi-Courtney added.
The concession company also recommended that the regulation and management of airports and airport terminals should be separated, stressing that the regulation of airports should be handled by an independent body or regulator and not an agency which is also an operator or competitor in the sector.
Balogun added that FAAN truncated the concession and continues to violate the agreement, most notably with the redevelopment of GAT in contravention of the exclusivity clause in the agreement with Bi-Courtney.
“GAT reduced by 50 per cent the revenue of MMA2, which was intended to process 4 million passengers annually. This action severely impacted our revenue projection to recoup our capital outlay and pay our obligations. We are indebted to our bankers and FAAN due to the 50 per cent loss in revenue In this regard we always are willing to have a reconciliation meeting with FAAN, unfortunately as with the concession any meeting or agreement is not adhered to, thus the current impasse. We are constantly trying to resolve the many areas of conflict regarding the concession. and we always reach out for just intervention in order for BASL to create the aviation hub Nigerians truly deserve,” BASL stated.
