Legal challenges could delay N102bn Lekki airport project

• Published On: 22 October 2024 at 07:37

The Lagos State Government's intention to develop a new airport to supplement Murtala Muhammed Airport may encounter legal hurdles due to an existing agreement that forbids such expansion.

The agreement is between Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited and the Federal Government, according to The Punch.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently met with officials from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria to discuss the next steps for the Lekki project.

The gathering focused on ways for expediting the proposed airport building.

Despite potential legal problems emanating from the current agreement with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, NCAA officials and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria looked into ways to speed up the project's progress.

According to sources, Governor Sanwo-Olu obtained both expert counsel and consent from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority before moving forward with the airport project.

Industry experts have supported this idea, pointing out that the new airport might reduce traffic at Murtala Muhammed Airport.

The Federal Government approved the development of Lekki International Airport in the Lekki-Epe area in October 2022, with work expected to begin in 2023.

Hadi Sirika, former Minister of Aviation, presented Governor Sanwo-Olu with the clearance for the new airport at the Lagos Economic Summit in 2022.

However, a deal signed prior to April 7, 2007, when the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two was commissioned, forbids the development of another airport terminal in Lagos as long as the concession arrangement with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited is in existence. This could create severe legal issues for the proposed project.

The Federal Government had inked a 36-year agreement with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited to rebuild the once-burned Terminal using a design-build-operate-transfer model.

However, the terminal has only been operational for 17 years.

In 2009, the Lagos State government under Babatunde Fash¬ola proposed a new airport using a Public Private Partnership concept.

In 2011, the government launched a competitive procurement procedure for the airport's construction by issuing a request for pre-qualification. This sparked attention from 33 Nigerian and foreign companies.

However, the project was delayed due to landowner opposition and finance issues.

In 2011, a report in local newspapers claimed the then-Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Adeniyi Oyemade, as saying that approximately N102 billion had been voted for the project.

After Fashola left office in 2015, the project was largely forgotten until Sanwo-Olu restarted it with Federal Government clearance.

Governor Sanwo-Olu indicated that the new airport will be built alongside the Lekki-Epe Expressway, taking up 3,500 hectares of land in the area.

Attempts to get a response from Bi-Courtney about the situation have failed. A senior employee of the company, speaking anonymously, stated that they had no comment on the topic at the time of publication.

The company's Head of Corporate Communications, Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi, declined to comment on the development.

"I cannot comment on that matter right now," Olawuyi stated.

Gbenga Omotoso, the Commissioner for Information, declined to comment on the situation, disregarding text messages and phone calls from reporters.

Meanwhile, Olumide Ohunayo, Director of Research at Zenith Travel Limited, stressed the necessity for an extra airport in the state and endorsed the proposed construction.

"Lagos State is Nigeria's largest commercial city, with a population of over 20 million and a sizable middle class. You can be certain that a second airport is both necessary and important for the state's economy to grow," Ohunayo said.