It was a show of shame earlier today at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos when a member of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Sen. Adesoji Akanbi engaged in a shouting match with a staff of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) over the concession agreement of the terminal.
It was a show of shame earlier today at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos when a member of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Sen. Adesoji Akanbi engaged in a shouting match with a staff of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) over the concession agreement of the terminal.
The joint National Assembly Committees on Aviation led by their Chairman, Sen. Adamu Aliero, and Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, had embarked on a facility tour of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos early in the morning and later moved to MMA2 as part of its oversight functions.
On getting to MMA2, the touring National Assembly members were received by the management of the terminal, led by its Managing Director, Capt. Jari Williams, but a few minutes later, questions were asked about the operation of the terminal and its attendant crises with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) over unpaid debts.
Williams in his response to the question, agreed that BASL had not paid the FAAN any amount of money since it commenced operations about 10 years ago due to the breach of the consensual agreement by the FAAN, but noted that the management was ready to pay all the money allegedly owed to the agency once all the naughty areas were resolved by both parties.
He also explained that the court had awarded about N200bn to the terminal operator, but FAAN had appealed the judgment.
He emphasized that the disagreement between both parties was sending wrong signals to other intending private investors either in the country or abroad.
However, Sen. Akanbi who was part of the team seemed not comfortable with the position of the terminal operator and engaged in a shouting match with one of the staff of the company, Prof. Gbenga Ogunmoyela.
Akanbi queried the integrity of the judiciary system in Nigeria for delivering the case in favor of the terminal operator.
“Which judge gave the judgment? Who is that judge that awarded the sum to you? You are operating for 10 years and you are yet to pay your landlord, which judge is that? Who is the judge? Can you show me the judge that awarded the sum to you?", he said.
However, this did not go down well with Ogunmoyela who also replied him in a high tone for several minutes.
The issue was however brought under control by Sen. Maurice Bruce who advised both parties to discuss the lingering issue in private.
The National Assembly members were also not comfortable with the new terminal under construction by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC)
Aliero, queried the contractors over the delay in the completion of the project, saying that the project ought to have been completed by December 2016.
He also queried the location of the terminal, saying that it was not the original site allocated for the project.
However, the Managing Director of FAAN, Engr. Saleh Dunoma said that the original site for the project was still under contention and promised that the project would be completed soon.
