Controversy dogging Nigeria’s aviation sector
To say the least, the state of the country’s over 22 airports owned by the federal government before the year 2011 was deplorable. And though attempts were made to reposition the sector by the previous administrations, the conditions of the airports did not change much.From dilapidated, crammed, antiquated, poorly-maintained, decrepit terminals to obsolete weather forecast […]
To say the least, the state of the country’s over 22 airports owned by the federal government before the year 2011 was deplorable. And though attempts were made to reposition the sector by the previous administrations, the conditions of the airports did not change much.
From dilapidated, crammed, antiquated, poorly-maintained, decrepit terminals to obsolete weather forecast equipment, the sector was in doldrums. At the airports, conveniences, air-conditioning systems, car parking lots, cargo-handling, luggage conveyor systems and other passenger handling systems and alternative power supply system had become comatose.
But a little over two years ago the sector began to see a remarkable change. For instance, 22 airports across the country got needed facelift that changed travel experience for most passengers. Not only that, there has been a boost for infrastructure in the sector with replacement of obsolete equipment for modern one. To boot, global players were attracted as investors into the sector. The Chinese, for example, signed an MOU with Nigeria to finance the construction of 11 new state-of-the-arts airports across the nation, out of which 6 will be for perishables.
From Lagos to Yola, Port Harcourt to Enugu, the quality and pace of work took the aviation sector by storm. For once, the national pride of Nigerians was restored and the nation’s standing in the comity of nations was sustained. Now, high-wired politics that stopped the reform with the removal of the former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah may be impacting on the expected progress within the sector.
Just recently, the House Committee on Aviation claimed that a huge debt to the tune of N174.6 has been incurred by the Ministry of Aviation, calling it ‘unsustainable,’ though sources at the ministry have denied that calling it a ‘mere witch-hunting bitter politics.’
The committee, led by its chairman, Nkiru Onyejeocha, expressed dissatisfaction with the ministry’s debt burden when it went for its oversight function at the ministry and its agencies recently.
Onyejeocha equally denied knowledge of the aviation master plan which has guided the reform witnessed so far in the sector.
The committee members had expressed concern that most of the projects done were to remodel the airport terminals and not to provide equipment that would improve the safety of flights in the country.
In response, the supervising Minister of Aviation and Minister of State for Commerce and Trade, Mr Samuel Ortom, said that the alleged debts were not incurred by his administration since it has not awarded any contract and does not intend to award any until it has addressed the alleged huge debts.
The debts in question refer to the Loan of US$500m from China Exim Bank and the Eurobond Loan of US$100m which would both be liquidated from the proposed Airport Development Levy of US$10.00 (International Passengers’) and N1,000(Local Passengers), with a 5 year projected income.
According to the document, funding sources for the reform in the aviation sector include BASA funds, appropriations, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) other sources of funding such as proposed Airport Development Levy and Security Surcharge.
For the BASA funds, there was a presidential approval for Presidential Priority Projects in Aviation, which conveyed approval for utilization of the sum of N60m in the BASA Fund and was submitted to the National Assembly for appropriation to be supplemented by a further N14.6b from the IGR of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
For appropriation, the document further shows that the Ministry of Aviation approved and awarded a total of 15 projects in Phase I of the airport remodelling and facility development in 2011, amounting to N12, 808,150,598.30. Also, the ministry approved and awarded 91 contracts for Phase II and additional consultancy projects in 2011, totalling N97, 668,167,822.11
And in order to complement the goals of the Phases I and II of the projects, the ministry secured the sum of N43,149,077,670.50 in the 2013 Appropriation to implement the Phase III and approved by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) after submission by the MTB.
Mamman Dogondawa wrote from No.65, 22 Road, Festac Town, Lagos