Tinubu not interested in concessioning Lagos airport, Keyamo …orders unions be put on discussion committee

Feelers emerging from the Presidency has indicated that the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu may not likely sanction the concession of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos as sources disclosed that the President has directed that funds should be source to redevelop the facility and allow the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) manage it before tinkering with handling it over to private investors in the future.

The information corroborated the disclosure by the Minster of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo at a meeting with aviation workers’ union in Lagos where he said the federal government is considering concessioning smaller airports in the country.

Speaking while allaying the fears of the unions on a purported draft agreement being paraded, said to be the document for the concession of some airports without the union’s inputs, the minister explained that such document does not exist.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo

Keyamo said “The President is thinking of even looking for the money to do Lagos airport, not to even concession it. It is only the smaller airports that will be concessioned. They are looking for the money now just to hint you. That is the present situation. They are looking for the money to do Lagos ourselves to international standard, but it is still not 100 percent but this is a matter of honest disclosure.”

He added that “so that you don’t say this is what I spoke yesterday and tomorrow you hear of another thing but to tell you that we are on top of the discussion, that may happen. When we finished doing it whether we will give ourselves the opportunity to still run it when it is done to world class or give it to private entity to run efficiently so that the facilities will not break down after one year. We don’t want that for our country. We need to balance it up, sometime all over the world, public institutions run by public persons, most of them have collapsed, Heathrow airport and the biggest airports in the world have fall into that category. We should not be different.”

Keyamo explained that “this is not privatization, I was part of the battle against privatization as a lawyer. That is selling off government asserts, no, concession is not privatization, it is not, ownership is still with the federal government, we simply want private hands to run it. After three or four years they review it whether the firm run it well and they review again and share profit and on and on like that.”

L-R: Perm Sec, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, Mr. Festus Keyamo and DGCA Captain Chris Najomo

Responding to complain by the unions of been left out of the deliberations, Keyamo directed the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Ibrahim Kana to immediate include representatives of the various workers’ unions in the industry into the committee deliberating the planned concession of airports in the country in order to get their inputs in the discussions.

The Minister assured them that without agreement reach on their status in the concession agreements, he will not present the matter before the federal executive council meeting.

Mr. Keyamo assured that the unions must be taken along while their interest must be discussed and agreed upon before the exercise will be carried out.

He said “I maintained my words that nothing will happen without the unions being carried along and the clear interest of the workers will be taken care of. As I speak with you, I even don’t know what they are negotiating. It is when we get to the point to decide whether we should even continue with those firms, whether they have capacity or not. At that point it will fall back to me because I will be the one that will take the concession document to the federal executive council meeting.”

“I will now see all the documentations, business case and everything and look at it and decide whether it will go to FEC or not and then look if it has taken care of the union or not. At what point do we bring you in, that is just the issue here. However, because we are public officers with nothing to hide, I tell my Special Assistant of Public Private Partnership and the Permanent Secretary that whatever stage they are now on the discussions, whether it is proposal, whether it is exploratory, bring in the unions now, because there is nothing to hide. Let them report to their members per seconds.”

He affirmed that “the airports not my property. I just want to make them function. And the two conditions I have said when I am engaging the public on this is that unless you take care of the interest of the unions, I will not go on with the concession. I will leave the airports the way I met them and go back to my businesses when I leave office because I don’t want to leave a legacy of distrust of the unions because that is where I am going back to, the civil society.”

The management of FAAN on Sunday disclosed that the Minister also assured the Unions that he would also step-in to ensure the immediate implementation of the new salary review for staff of FAAN.

Whilst it said it remains resolute towards implementing her core values, the Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection Mrs. Obiageli Orah

In an electronic document added that the authority is also working with the Minister to maintain cordial relations with the aviation unions as continuous dialogue and understanding are better alternatives in addressing industrial issues.