The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Capt. Rabiu Hamisu Yadudu has revealed that concessioning the nation’s airport will lead to reducing the long process of public procurement and fast track the fixing of faulty equipment with the signing of a Service Level Agreement (SLA).
The FAAN MD also disclosed that efforts were being made to address the controversies surrounding the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, operators of MMA2.
Capt. Yadudu made the disclosure when the leadership of Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) and Infrastructure Concession & Regulatory Commission (ICRC) held a meeting over the weekend with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The meeting had in attendance, the Technical Assistant to the Minister of Aviation, Mr Mustapha Junaidu and also a staff of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Council (ICRC) attached to the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
Capt. Yadudu declared that the meeting was conveyed in his capacity as the Chairman of the Federal Ministry of Aviation Concession Team, commending ASRTI for its role in the industry’s development over the years.
“I have been in the industry for 20 years. One thing with ART is that you have always kept in touch. You have always been there to offer your advice and interpretations.
It is important that we do a good job so that those coming after us will have something to look up to. Aviation belongs to all of us. It does not belong to any individual,” he said.
Yadudu said, “The long process of public procurement was a major challenge to the aviation industry because of the speed of response involved in the sector.
He mentioned one of the benefits of concession as the Service Level Agreement (SLA) which would be signed between FAAN and the concessionaire.
The SLA would mean that whenever there is an emergency in fixing of faulty equipment, the concessionaire would address the issue immediately, to be paid later.
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This, according to him, solves the problems of waiting for long procurement processes.
Yadudu remarked that though FAAN’s revenue had totally dropped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had taken delivery of 55 Self Service Kiosks from ICTS and has received approval to increase its Passenger Service Charge (PSC) after due consultations with relevant bodies including the International Air Transport Association.
The President of ASRTI, Dr Gabriel Olowo commended the leadership of FAAN under Capt. Yadudu.
The ASRTI shared its ideas on airports development, standing on the contents of the communiqué issued at the end of the webinar organized by ASRTI on Thursday, August 13, 2020. The theme of the webinar was “Nigeria’s Airports Concession: How Far, So Far?”
On the communiqué’s request for minimum government involvement in airports management, he noted that minimum involvement was relative as issues such as Aviation Security and Safety would always involve the government as part of its responsibility.
In his presentation, Junaidu explained that FAAN would make more money and spend less on maintenance when SLA is signed with a concessionaire to cover that.
To address the issue of process transparency raised by the communiqué, Junaidu said a Strategic Communication Consultant had been appointed by ICRC to keep stakeholders informed on its activities.
