The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has announced the termination of the concession of the tollgate at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport to its concessionaire , Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa Limited also known as I-CUBE, Punch reports.
This was confirmed by its General Manager, Corporate Affairs , Mrs Henrietta Yakubu while speaking to Punch that the agency has ended the deal and taken over the tollgate.
The contract termination according to the report was a fallout of a clash between FAAN workers and I-CUBE recently.
A team was assigned to broker peace between the warring aviation unions and the managers of I -CUBE over the tollgate contracts. This yielded positive results as peace was restored at the toll area with some hours free access provided for motorists.
The allegation from FAAN was that the contract with I-CUBE had ended over a year ago. This made over a hundred staff of FAAN to invade the toll area and took over the collection of tolls.
At about 7am,the Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria ,National Union of Air Transport Employees, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals and National Union of Pensioners had taken over the gates totally.
Reports say, the Secretary General, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, Abdulrasaq Saidu insisted the management of the access gate was exclusive to the commercial department of FAAN.
He lamented that the concession agreement had fraudulently been left unreviewed for over five years.
In their reaction, the Executive Director of Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa, Mr Toluwaleke Abajingin ,expressed shock at the development arguing that his firm has been remitting revenue to FAAN but said the case has been filed in court.
It would be recalled that three years ago, similar protests had taken place on the airport concession.
Silverbird TV had reported that workers under the aegis of National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and Air Transport Senior Staff Association staged a protest against the concession of four international airport terminals by the federal government. This was the first physical protest against the concession in Lagos, Abuja ,Port Harcourt and Kano.
by Francis Ogwo
Sources-
Punch news
Silverbird tv
