The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has issued eviction notices to hangars and structure occupants in close proximity to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport’s (MMIA) new terminal, even as such action is expected to cost the government up to N10 billion in compensation.
The demolition exercise, which is to make way for aircraft parking space at the terminal, is scheduled to begin in the next two weeks.
FAAN has been in a dilemma of either operating the new terminal at reduced capacity or demolishing obstructing hangers to widen the parking lots and forestall security loopholes.
The Business Intelligence (TBI Africa) learnt that FAAN had issued the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N), Dominion, Evergreen Apples Nigeria (EAN), Caverton and ExecuJet hangars eviction notices.
Also affected are Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Road Service Corps (FRSC) and the towing companies close to the AIB-N regional headquarters.
A conservative estimate offered that the AIB’s regional headquarters and its Command and Control Centre are worth N5 billion.
The eviction letter, signed by the FAAN Managing Director, was, however, mum on other compensation outside of providing alternative land space for the relocation.
General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Henrietta Yakubu, confirmed the relocation order, adding that FAAN will give the affected organisations new land within the airport environment.
“FAAN is relocating those offices that have been asked to move. There is no timeframe on their relocation since we are the agency relocating them. They have just been put on notice,” Yakubu said.
A recent visit to the long-awaited terminal showed a completed facility with all the fittings in place and finishing touches ongoing on the exterior. While the avio-bridges and about seven fingers are elegantly positioned, the narrow access path to the last four fingers will be a challenge to wide-body airplanes.
The previous administration had approved the construction of four new terminals for Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano airports in a 2003 China and Nigeria loan deal at $500 million.
The projects were handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and ought to have been delivered in March 2015.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had in 2016, faulted the location of the Lagos and Abuja terminals, describing them as wrongly positioned.
Secretary-General of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), noted that a lot of unilateral decisions were taken on the airport’s terminal building by the former minister of aviation (Stella Oduah), outside of the standard, professional advice and approval of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
As the way forward, Ojikutu said if it is true that N5 billion (as initially mentioned) is needed to compensate for the car park and the hangers, “I think FAAN can conveniently pay them off within a year to create sanity around the new terminal building.”
“My estimated revenue earnings for FAAN from its projected international passengers and air traffic is sufficient for FAAN to conveniently pay the N5 billion to the car park and the owners of the hangers to avoid the security risk and lack of aircraft parking space,” he said.
