FAAN refutes plot to take over MMA2

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has refuted the reports that it is planning to take over Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 from Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited [BASL], operator of the facility.

Henrietta Yakubu, FAAN’s general manager, corporate affairs, refuted the allegations in strong term.

Yakubu, said the agency was not aware of any plans to take over the operations of the MMA2 terminal, adding that someone might be trying to be mischievous with the report.

An online platform had said the 12-year agreement of BASL would expire on May 7, 2019, which was the exact date the terminal commenced operations with flight service by Chanchangi Airlines.

The report alleged that the planned takeover of the terminal was also causing some instability among the staff members of BASL, who were said to already looking elsewhere for alternative jobs following the threat by the government.

The report also claimed, Wale Babalakin, chairman of BASL, has been making efforts through some of his contacts in the presidency to frustrate the takeover of the terminal on the due date, claiming that the concession agreement between the two was for 36 years.

Reacting to the report, BASL said the MMA2 concession was valid for 36 years which had yet to expire.

In a statement on Tuesday, Eniola Ade-Solanke, spokesperson for Bi-Courtney, said, “We will like to set the records straight by stating that Bi-Courtney Limited entered into a concession agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for the Build, Operate and Transfer of the MMA2 for 36 years.”

According to Bi-Courtney, FAAN offered it a 36-year lease in a letter dated October 12, 2006, and an agreement was duly signed on the February 2, 2007 by the minister of aviation.

It added that the agreement was further confirmed at a meeting held on July 7, 2009 chaired by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

“The clear provisions of the concession agreement between Bi-Courtney and the government uphold the operation of the MMA2 terminal for an undisputed period of 36 years,” the statement read in part.

“The erroneous claims against the chairman of Bi-Courtney that he is making frantic efforts in the Presidency to frustrate a takeover of the terminal is not unconnected to purported attempts to stir up a false sense of alarm and acrimony against the concession.”