MMA2/FAAN crisis: Why FG should shift ground

Not quite long while the whole atmosphere was highly tensed up in view of the preparations for the general elections, the country’s aviation sector was enmeshed in a controversy which though not new to the sector.

The controversy which has become a recurrent decimal and looked like a ‘giant’ that cannot be tackled by the government and its judiciary has to do with the lingering drama over the problematic agreement signed between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the management of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited ( BASL), owners and managers of MMA2.

The agreement which was signed between the two parties 13 years ago gave rise to the terminal two otherwise known as MMA2 at the local wing of the Lagos airport.

The construction of the terminal which was the first of its kind across the airports in view of its standard facilities that can compare with others outside the country came into being under the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the sector.

Inconclusive election: Protest rocks INEC headquarters

While the Bi-Courtney management is holding on to 36 years as the period within which the agreement expect them to manage, recoup their investments and hand over to FAAN, it is a different story with the government agency as it has been laying claim to twelves years being the specified period Bi-Courtney is expected to run the project.

Besides the discrepancies in the years of the agreement, there is also disagreement on who manages the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) still at the local airport for while the MMA2 management said the agreement gave it the right to run the GAT alongside the MMA2 for 36 years, FAAN is also claiming that the GAT was not in the agreement signed.

The height of the confusion came with the decision of Bi-Courtney to seek for legal clarification. Up till this moment, the court of the land  which ordinarily should deliver an unbiased judgement on the case has continued to foot drag as the issue continues to raise doubt about the integrity of government.

Unfortunately, while the foot dragging continues, Bi- Courtney, the company at the centre of the debacle having invested heavily in the MMA2 project is losing hugely in view of the roadblock put on its way by the opposition of FAAN towards the agreement.

Under this condition, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. In other words, the two elephants are FAAN and Bi-Courtney while the grass represents the aviation sector.

This state of confusion should not be allowed to go beyond this year without being resolved in view of its negative implications on investments in the sector and the country at large.

The truth is that from all indications, the treatment meted to Bi-Courtney by FAAN on one side and many other concessionaires who are facing similar challenges have driven many private investors away.

Many investors who would have invested in the sector but already discouraged, have expressed fears that they may not be well protected like Bi-Courtney citing what they called the failure of government to obey business agreements.

It is at this juncture that Crucial Moment is calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to use his re-election to urgently look into this bad precedent by taking a stand on the controversial agreement.

If it is 36 years agreement that Bi-Courtney signed with FAAN, let it be, after all, the FAAN officials who signed the paper on behalf of government were not blindfolded while appending their signatures.

Any referee trying to shift the goalpost in the middle of a match is definitely looking for trouble, therefore if FAAN actually signed for 36 years and it suddenly wants a change overnight, it should realize that somebody who had invested so much in that business will fight back.

At this juncture, though, there is no doubt that the agreement was not tidy enough, but this should not be allowed to kill the morale of private investors in Nigeria as this issue can still be well managed without destroying the good spirit behind it for close to six years when the old terminal was gutted by fire. No investor expressed interest in replacing it until Bi-Courtney came on board.

Since government will always need to partner private investors, any move it takes to resolve this matter will be well appreciated by other interested investors willing to invest in the sector.

President Buhari has the power to urgently resolve this imbroglio for the purpose of creating an enabling environment for investment in the sector. Government should be ready to shift ground on this case. But in doing this, there is an urgent need for government to check the pedigree of those in charge of such agreements in FAAN and at the Ministry of transport to avoid a repeat. If such officials had done their homework well, the sector will not be in this mess.