The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that the
Federal Executive Council has concessioned the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos
and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.
Also, the VP has encouraged the private sector to report
ministries, departments and agencies stalling the ease of doing business,
saying naming and shaming was the only way to improve the business environment.
Osinbajo made the call at the 5th Presidential Quarterly
Business Forum on Monday, the first since the National Bureau of Statistics,
announced that the nation’s GDP grew at 0/55% at the Q2 after five quarters of
contraction.
He specifically, said that the council had already granted
approval for the concession of both Abuja and Lagos airports.
“First, we want to do a general overhaul. Second, we want to
concession all the airports. I am pleased to say that the Federal Executive
Council (FEC) has approved the concessioning of the Lagos and Abuja airports,”
he stated.
In 2016, the federal government had indicated interest in
concessioning the Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano airports to increase
their capacity and efficiency.
Labour unions in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) had expressed reservations in the process, vowing to stop the plan.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had assured
that the process would be transparent.
Already two committees, project steering committee and
project delivery committee, for the concessioning process have been inaugurated
In 2007, Olusegun Obasanjo, the president at that time, had
concessioned Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed Airport to Bi-Courtney Aviation
Services Limited (BASL), the first public private partnership (PPP) initiative
in the Nigeria’s aviation sector.
On naming and shaming those demanding rents and
gratifications, Osinbajo’s said, “We are ready to confront the system that is
used to rent and gratification. In order to reverse that and for things to be
done properly involves calling out officials involved. If we don’t we will never
solve the problem.
“Part of the problem is that nobody is willing to report
anybody for asking for gratification.”
He added that Partnership with private sector “is not merely
a policy, is the only sensible thing to do. Our approach is to engage, to work
collaboratively, to take criticisms and suggestions seriously and to respond.”
Emphasizing on the issue of criticisms, suggestions and
response, Osinbajo said, “There is a lot that needs to be done in the whole
process.
“We welcome the criticism because our business is to make
the sector better.
“These interactions are important in improving capacity of
regulators because they are there to serve investors.”
By Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye
