Muhammadu Buhari |
The Federal Government has approved the appointment of
transaction advisers for the proposed national carrier and concession of the
nation’s airports.
This was one of the decisions reached at a meeting of the
Federal Executive Council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on
Wednesday.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, told State
House correspondents at the end of the meeting that shortly after the
inauguration of ministers, the government started work on its road map for the
aviation sector.
He said since most of the programmes and projects were
supposed to be on Public-Private Partnership basis, the government was guided
by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission’s regulations.
Sirika stated, “One of the processes is to appoint a
transaction adviser, who will give advisory services, kick-start and lead the
process.
“Today in council, we took the memo for the appointment of
those transaction advisers to carry out the advisory services on the
establishment of a national carrier, establishment of an aviation leasing
company and maintenance repair and overhaul centre; establishment of
aerotropolis or airport city, as you may call it; and of course, the concession
of our airports.
“It (memo) was considered and all of them were divided into
six groupings and they were awarded to Messrs Lufthansa Consulting/TN Aero FGE,
for the national carrier; for the aviation leasing company, it is Messrs Arrow;
for the concession of airports, Messrs Infrata Dantens; for the establishment
of the MRO, Messrs Arrow; then, the aerotropolis and agro cargo terminals were
given to JEBB.
“All of these were at different amounts but the total sum is
N1.524bn. Council had graciously approved and these will signal the kick-start
of all of the activities within the transportation and aviation industry.”
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde
Fashola, said the council approved the contract for the Odukpani Itu-Ikot
Ekpene road linking Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.
With the approval, he said the government expected that all
the problems associated with that road, which was constructed over 40 years
ago, would be resolved.
Fashola stated, “By the award of this contract, we will do
our best to quickly mobilise the contractor to site with the onset of the rainy
season, and I am sure that by this time next year, it will be a better story
and a better journey time experience in that area of the country.
“This is consistent with the promise of the administration
to improve the growth and the performance of the economy by reducing journey
time, the cost of doing business and the ease of transport, among others, and
also create jobs that would arise from the period of construction.”
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