Nigeria’s House of Representatives, has directed the Ministry of Aviation to suspend the planned concession of the nation’s four airports to private investors.
The directive follows pending resolution of contentious issues raised by labour unions and stakeholders of the four airports.
The Federal Government somewhere in June 2020, announced that it has commenced the concession process for four international airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.
It however, did not make public, details of the concession agreements.
But the Federal Government, since making public its the concession plans, has been met with stiff opposition, particularly from labour unions of the affected airports.
The House Committee on Aviation gave the directive to halt the concession process in Abuja, following the refusal of the Aviation Minister, Senator Sirika to appear before it and clear grey areas regarding the planned concession of the four airports.
Jumping to the Minister’s defence, the Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Aviation Ministry, Hassan Musa, told the House Committee on Aviation that, Senator Sirika could not make it because he was attending a public hearing on a Bill at the Senate.
However, Mr Musa’s excuse did not go down well with members of the committee who said the Aviation Minister deliberately refused to appear despite the seriousness of the issue.
