The Senate said on Thursday that it will investigate the concession of the Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, stating that the investigation is required because the airport concessioning process was not transparent.
The Senate’s decision to investigate airport concessioning was prompted by a motion by Senator Sumaila Kawu, who stated that a combined examination of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Act and the ICRC procedures manual revealed that the concessioning was based on a faulty foundation.
He argued that the Federal Ministry of Aviation does not own or run any airport in Nigeria rather by the dictates of the governing Act of FAAN, ownership and management of all federal government airports are fully vested in FAAN.
He further noted that the Federal Executive Council on May 17th approved the concession of the Aminu Kano International Airport for 30 years to Messrs Corporation America Airports Consortium.
According to Senator Kawu, FEC was misguided in its decision, and that action cannot amount to anything but a nullification.
The lawmaker stated that he is alarmed that Nigeria is receiving a concession fee upfront of $1.5m while the total amount of money that the Kano airport is accruing to the government is $97.4m.
The Senate consequently condemned the concessioning of the airports.