Delta State Government said it has received bids from at least 14 firms towards the proposed concessioning of the fledging Asaba International Airport situated in the state capital. The companies include One Dott Aviation, Infrastructural Bank Plc, Rougton International Consortium, the BGL Consortium, FBN Capital, Ponclef Associates Limited, Enterprise Integratus and Planet Capital Consortium. Others companies that have expressed interest in the concession bidding are Vetiva Capital Management Limited, Halcro Infrastructure Consortium, Deloids, PWC, Rosecross and Ed-field Partners Consortium. Pursuant to ongoing upgrade of the airport to international standard, the state government recently called for bids from reputable firms that would act as “transaction adviser in the concession pact”.
However, at the opening of the concession exercise in Asaba yesterday, Senior Policy Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Prof. Sylvester Monye, supported by his counterpart in Economic Planning, Mr. George Orogun, stressed that only companies with proven technical capability, quality aviation experience and a strong financial base would be considered. He however expressed delight at the response the request for a concessionaire had generated within the relatively short period it was made public. Monye said, “I am excited that this event is taking a lead in the state; this is a new Delta State. We have friends who can bid for the concession but because we want the best for the state and the business as usual, we decided to throw the bidding process open for healthy competition.” He said the state would be represented in Turkey for the “proposed Airport Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) conference, designed purely for airport concession.”
Monye, who was former Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Project Monitoring and Evaluation, and whose new office had been nicknamed, ‘Governor Okowa’s Delivery Unit’, said the transparent process the ‘concessioning’ transaction had undergone since it was made public had laid to rest the presumption that a consortium had been handpicked. Nonetheless, the representatives of the 14 firm expressed their readiness to lead the transaction in technical capability as well as required financial muscle. THISDAY however learnt that one applicant, Ideal Dabster Consortium, was rejected because the company failed to beat the deadline for the submission of the necessary advisory note.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/concession-14-firms-bid-for-asaba-airport/230551/
