BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
The Senate has vowed to probe the concession of the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
According to the upper chamber, the probe became necessary because the processes of concessioning the airports were not done transparently.
The Senate’s resolution on Thursday followed a motion by Sumaila Kawu who said from the combined examination of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria Act and the ICRC procedures manual, it is evident that the Concessioning was based on a faulty foundation.
He argued that the Federal Ministry of Aviation does not own or run any airport in Nigeria rather by the dictates of the governing Act of FAAN, ownership and management of all Federal Government airports are fully vested in FAAN.
He further noted that the Federal Executive Council on May 17, approved the concession of the Aminu Kano International Airport for 30 years to Messrs Corporation America Airports Consortium.
According to Kawu, FEC was misguided in its decision, and that action cannot amount to anything but nullification.
The lawmaker stated that he was alarmed that Nigeria is receiving a concession fee upfront of $1.5m while the total amount of money that the Kano airport was accruing to the government is $97.4m.
The Senate consequently condemned the concessioning of the airports.
