FG okays two airport contracts at N6.32bn

• Approvals were for both the main ministry and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, ratified two contracts worth N6.32 billion for the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, while briefing journalists after the week’s FEC meeting, which was presided over by President Bola Tinubu, disclosed that the approvals were for both the main ministry and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.

According to Keyamo, the first contract, involving technical support services at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, was at a cost of N4.1 billion, while the second one, sited at the Port Harcourt International Airport, involving the fixing of some navigational equipment, was at a cost of N2.23 billion.

Kayemo said, “Basically, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development presented two memos; one from the main ministry and another one from one of its agencies, which is NAMA. The first memo is actually a Technical Support Services contract with the CCECC, the Chinese company that built the new international wing of our airport in Lagos and of course the other four airports across the country.

“So from the word go, we have struck a deal with the same people who builds the place. It’s only natural that they are the same ones who should maintain their facilities for the first five years. That is what this technical support service contract is. For the first five years.

“We have said that they should maintain their chillers, the air handling units, the passenger boarding bridge, the escalators at the concourse, the remote boarding lifts that were specifically made for the physically challenged, and all those facilities they put there.

“It is for five years, the first five years for a contract sum of N4.1 billion, inclusive of 7.5% VAT, with a completion period of five years. So it says for the comfort of the traveling public, for Nigerians and for the enjoyment of the traveling public. So that is the first memo we presented and it was approved by council”.