Following several petitions challenging the propriety of the move by the federal government to concession the nation’s airports, the House of Representatives on Monday asked those behind the move to suspend it pending when all issues are resolved.
The petitions had mainly bothered on lack of transparency in the exercise, labour issues, the Chinese loans, the legal issues that may arise from the existing concessions and the lack of proper valuation of the present status of the affected airports, among others.
The House Committee on Aviation, which berated Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, for failing to appear before it in Abuja on Monday, said it had been receiving petitions against the move.
Four international airports are billed for concession to private operators. They are the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.
Chairman of the committee, Nnolim Nnaji, said the issues raised in the petitions were weighty and could not be overlooked.
“Based on the outcome of the meeting with the labour unions, the committee invited the Minister of Aviation and the heads of agencies under him to discuss the issue of the airports’ concession. Several dates were fixed for the meeting but for one reason or the other, they failed to attend.
“In view of this, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation hereby requests that the concession of the four airports should be put on hold pending the resolution of the contentious issues raised by the unions and other stakeholders to avoid industrial actions that may further cripple the already distressed industry.”
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