Louis Ibah

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) is wading into the crisis that has rocked the operations of the second domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos (MMA2) following its concession by the Federal Government to Bi-Courtney Aviation Service Limited (BASL) in 2007.

The over 10-year crisis has led to various litigation between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the original owners of the airport and BASL as both parties contest the terms of the concession deal.

For instance, FAAN is faulting the scope of the concession deal to include the management of the first domestic terminal (MMA1) of the Lagos Airport also called the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and has gone ahead to operate the terminal and earning revenue from it. In the same way, both FAAN and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) have also stalled BASL’s licence  to commence regional flight operations from the MMA2 as also spelt out by the terms of the concession deal.

Acting Director General of ICRC, Mr. Chidi Iwuzah, who led a team of ICRC officials on the tour of the MMA2 yesterday vowed that the commission had now stepped into the crisis and would resolve all the lingering issues surrounding the MMA2 concession between FAAN and BASL.

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“The ICRC is aware of the pains, especially considering the financial risks BASL had both assumed on this (MMA2) transaction and we are more than ready to give our support towards seeking an out-of-court settlement that will be beneficial to FAAN, Bi-Courtney and the general public,” said Iwuzah.

Iwuzah had led the ICRC officials on a monitoring visit to MMA2 facilities to know the level of implementation of the concessions agreement entered into with the Federal Government.

The team also visited the Four-Star Hotel and Conference Centre projects being executed by BASL to ascertain the source of the problems marring its implementation.

“The MMA2 and the Hotel and Conference Centre concessions are two projects that are dear to our hearts as they have had their fair share of challenges which the commission is not unaware of,” said Iwuzah.