Etim Ekpimah
The House of Representatives, on Monday asked the Federal Government to suspend the plan to concession airports till all issues have been addressed.
The House Committee on Aviation stated that it’s been inundated with petitions against the planned concession, adding that the House frowned upon the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika for ignoring the invitation to appear before it in Abuja.
Chairman of the committee, Nnolim Nnaji, said the planned concession lacks transparency, issues like labour, Chinese loans, among others.
“Among the concerns were the lack of transparency in the exercise, labour issues, the Chinese loans, the legal issues that may arise from the existing concessions and the lack of proper valuation of the present status of the affected airports, among others.
“Based on the outcome of the meeting with the labour unions, the committee invited the Minister of Aviation and the heads of agencies under him to discuss the issue of the airports’ concession. Several dates were fixed for the meeting but for one reason or the other, they failed to attend,” he said.
It was learnt that four international airports have been slated for concession to private operators, which include Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt airports.