One runway for N64 billion?

The Senate’s resolution passed last week which queried an alleged planned review the N64 billion contract for the construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja addressed a matter that has agitated many Nigerians’ minds. The resolution declared the cost of the project to be “drastically exorbitant.” Though the Senate acknowledged […]

The Senate’s resolution passed last week which queried an alleged planned review the N64 billion contract for the construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja addressed a matter that has agitated many Nigerians’ minds. The resolution declared the cost of the project to be “drastically exorbitant.” Though the Senate acknowledged the need for a second runway at the Abuja airport, it urged the federal government to review the cost and ensure that due process is followed in the design, award and procurement processes of the contract for the construction of the 3.8 km runway.
The resolution followed a three-point motion by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) who raised alarm that the contract which was cancelled by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is currently being reviewed with the intention of re-awarding it. He said the contract was initially awarded by the then Federal Executive Council at the cost of N64 billion after it was ratified by the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) but was revoked after allegations of contract inflation were established.
To buttress his point, the senator said the cost of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja’s proposed second runway promises to be four times higher than the cost of building a brand new airport in this country and in many parts of the world as well. For instance, Gombe Airport with a 3.6 km runway was built at the cost of N8.2 billion. Dutse Airport in Jigawa State was built at a cost N11 billion; Bauchi Airport cost N12 billion; Akwa Ibom Airport cost N18.05 billion while the refurbishing and expansion of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu cost N13 billion. Yet, many of the state governments that built these airports were accused by succeeding regimes of inflating the costs.
Melaye also said the new Terminal Five at London’s Heathrow Airport, with a four-lane four miles runway, cost less than N22 billion. He stressed the need for the federal government to “reduce the unrealistic cost and duly monitor the award process.” The senator’s revelations raise a number of pertinent questions. Was due process really followed in the award of the contract in the first instance? This seems doubtful despite its purported ratification by BPP. If the contract was cancelled by the Jonathan administration, who authorised its review under President Muhammadu Buhari when there is no Federal Executive Council? 
There is a need for President Buhari to probe the purported review of a contract that was cancelled by his predecessor to give credence to his much-vaulted commitment to tame graft in the public service and to assure Nigerians that the days of impunity are indeed over in our country.  There is no doubt that there is a pressing need for a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport because if the only one in use develops any problem, which can happen at any time given our poor maintenance culture, the nation’s capital will have no air access.
In fact, beyond a second runway, Abuja even needs a second airport as is the case in many major capitals in the world but in doing so, due process has to be followed and the cost has to be realistic, factoring in the parlous state of Nigeria’s economy thanks to the slump in global oil prices and the profligacy of previous administrations. Senate President Bukola Saraki while announcing the resolution said, “We have to let the MDAs (ministries, departments, and agencies) know that those days of recklessness are over and these kinds of figures will not be accepted. In fact, it is not just in aviation but in all other sectors of the economy.” These are reassuring words but the Senate must match its words with action by encouraging and putting pressure on the executive to take urgent and drastic action to deal with unscrupulous elements trying to rape our common patrimony.