National Assembly committee to resolve Bi-Courtney, FAAN faceoff on MMA2 concession 

Inspects Lagos Airport On Oversight Function

The National Assembly joint committee on aviation has pledged to resolve the dispute between Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) that built the Murtala Muhammed Airport II (MMA2), Lagos.

The joint committee on an oversight function at the Lagos airport yesterday said the controversy over concession agreements of MMA2 and years of set-back in the terminal’s development plan were not good for the country, especially the plan to concession all 22 airports in the country.

The 12-man team, drawn from the Senate House Committee on Aviation and House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, toured of the international and local terminals of the Lagos Airport, with assessments of the key facilities.

At the MMA2 terminal, the team was briefed on the state of the facility, which is the test case of concession and Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the aviation industry.

Fire had razed the old local terminal in 2000 and in 2003, its contract was awarded to BASL under a Build Design Operate and Transfer (BDOT) arrangement.

The MMA2 reopened in 2007, but its year of concession, either 12 or 36 years became a subject of litigation between BASL and FAAN, which remains unresolved.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Muhammad Adamu Aliero and his House of Representatives counterpart, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, assured that the National Assembly was poised to resolve all the issues between FAAN and BASL.

“We are going to wade into this controversy between Bi-Courtney and FAAN, we are going to do our very best to broker peace. I think that is exactly what the Joint Committee of the National Assembly is up to. To make sure that justice is done,” Aliero said.