Senate To Probe Concession Of Kano, Abuja Airports

The Senate on Thursday declared that it will probe the concession of the Aminu Kano International Airport Kano and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and other international airports across the country.

Naija News understands that the move was made following a motion by Senator Sumaila Kawu (NNPP, Kano South) who said from the combined examination of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Act and the ICRC procedures manual, it is evident that the Concessioning was based on a faulty foundation.

The Senate insisted that the probe became important because the process of concessioning the airports was not done transparently.

In the motion, Kawu 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.

The lawmaker stressed that FEC was misguided in its decision and that action cannot amount to anything but a nullification.

Kawu 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 concession of the airports, Naija News understands.