The Federal Government on Wednesday said it is not reversing its concluded plans to concession Nigeria airports, beginning with Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt. The government said the decision was taken because it can no longer sustain the funding of the 22 airports across the country, assuring that the process will be transparent done and the aviation workers who fear possibility of massive job losses will be fully carried along.
Hadi Sirika, Minister of State for Aviation Senator, stated this while reacting to the resistance by Workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) under the aegis of the Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) to the plans by government to concession the Lagos and Abuja Airports.
The federal government had last two weeks approved for the concession of the nation’s four major airports, which would begin with the Lagos and Abuja.
Speaking after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Sirika said the Murtala Mohammed Airport for instance was originally built to handle 200,000 travelers per annum but that today it is serving about eight million per annum, which the government can no longer handle since it does not have the resources to upgrade the facilities.
“You will agree with me that this is not news, they have done so in the past. We are a democratic government and we recognize that it is their right to protests and what they are protesting is whether they will be job losses and labour issues. And we have been very consistent and we have been engaging them. This time it will be very very different.
He said the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) will, on Friday, put up a portal where all matters of concession will be available for anyone to see.
The Abuja and Lagos airports are part of the big four that will be concessioned in this first phase, he concluded.
