Legal battle may delay N102bn Lekki airport project

The Lagos State Government’s move to build an airport to complement the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, may face legal resistance as an existing agreement with a terminal operator in the state forbids the construction of the airport, The PUNCH has learned.

The construction of the proposed new airport, if not repealed, will be in violation of an existing agreement between Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited and the Federal Government.

On Friday, in a bid to commence the construction of the airport in the Lekki area of Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu met with senior officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria.

The details of this meeting were said to have been centred around how work can be expedited for the proposed airport construction.
Sources with knowledge about the meeting said the governor did not only appeal for the professional advice of the regulators but also appealed for the approval of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to commence the building of the airport.

This development received endorsement from industry experts, who stated that when completed the airport will reduce traffic on the popular Murtala Muhammed Airport.

In October 2022 the Federal Government approved the construction of the Lekki International Airport in the Lekki-Epe area of Lagos State with a promise to begin the construction in 2023.
Former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, presented the approval for the new airport to Sanwo-Olu at the Lagos Economic Summit 2022 in the state.

However, prior to April 7, 2007, when the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two, Lagos was commissioned, the Federal Government reached an agreement with the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, a private firm operating the terminal, not to construct another new airport terminal in the state once the concession agreement for MMA2 was still on course.

The Federal Government had signed a 36-year agreement with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited for the reconstruction of the once burnt Terminal under a design-build-operate-transfer arrangement.

However, the terminal operators have only operated the terminal for 17 years.

The Lagos State government under the Babatunde Fash¬ola’s administration mooted the idea of a new airport in 2009 under the Public Private Partnership scheme.

In 2011, as part of the com¬petitive tender process for the construction of the airport, the government, through its consultants, advertised a request for pre-qualification.

33 Nigerian and international firms indicated interest in participating in the ambitious project, but the project was delayed by opposition from landowners and difficulties in raising finance.
In 2011, a report by local newspapers, where the then Commissioner for Commerce and Industry was quoted, Adeniyi Oyemade, noted that about N102bn had been voted for the project.

But since Fashola left office in 2015, not much was heard of the project again until when San¬wo-Olu revived it with approval from the Federal Government.

Sanwo-Olu said that con¬struction on the new airport would be built alongside the Lekki–Epe Expressway and would be on 3,500 hectares of land in the area.

However, efforts to get Bi-Courtney to speak on the matter have been futile.

A senior staff member who spoke on the condition of anonymity in the company told our correspondent that the company had no response on the matter at the time of filing this report.

The Head of Corporate Communications of the company, Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi, said she cannot comment on the development.

“I cannot comment on that matter for now,” Olawuyi told our correspondent.
The Commissioner for Information in the State, Gbenga Omotoso, refused to comment on the development as he ignored both text messages of enquiry and calls from our correspondent.

Meanwhile, the Director of Research at Zenith Travel Limited, Olumide Ohunayo, said the state needs an additional airport.

“Lagos state is the biggest commercial city in Nigeria with a population of about 20 million and a high group in the middle class. You can be sure that a second airport is a necessity and of importance to further expand the economy of the state.”

The Managing Partner, TMSS Logistics, an aviation logistic consulting and service provider company, Nuhu Adam, said the announcement by the state government was a good development and a game changer for the state.

He said, “The announcement by the Lagos State Government is a good development and a game changer. The airport is being promoted within the concept of a free-trade zone. It is definitely going to be a game changer, given the strategic location of Lagos as an aviation hub in West Africa.

“However, the promoter should be mindful of the existing agreement between the current operator of a terminal and the Federal Government. I see this as an encumbrance if the legal hurdle is not properly ironed out.

“It won’t be in the interest of who-be investors, given the last experience of Virgin Nigeria Vs Federal Government on the issue of operation of domestic flights from international terminals.”