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Following the expiration of the contract for the control of the Lagos Airport toll gate, the Federal Government may be considering returning control of the revenue points to the commercial department of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Daily Sun has learned.
A source privy to the negotiations between the aviation unions and FAAN told Daily Sun that the management of the agency led by Rabiu Yadudu is favourably disposed to handing back the control of the revenue points to its commercial department with the belief that there would be improved performance.
The toll collection company, Integrated Intelligence Imaging West Africa Limited (I-Cube) West Africa was put in charge of the toll gates and till the expiration of its contract in February 2019, was generating N68 million monthly.
The ministry of aviation had proposed re-concessioning the revenue points but the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN) kicked against it, urging the government to return the control of the points to the commercial department of FAAN for a period of time and gauge its performance.
Daily Sun initially reported the contents of a letter dated October 24, 2019 which ATSSSAN wrote to the Managing Director of FAAN, proposing that the revenue points of the agency be handed over to the commercial department for at least three months after which a decision can be reached based on performance in revenue generation.
In the letter, the chairman of the union, Ahmed Danjuma said: “We were managing the toll gates but the management then gave it out to a concessionaire in 2003 or 2004 and the amount they agreed to be giving to FAAN was far less than what we were collecting when we were in charge. In Lagos, what FAAN is collecting from the concessionaire is N68 million monthly. If we were the ones managing it, we would have generated more revenue.
“The former concessionaire that took over the Lagos access gates abandoned it after two or three years and disappeared. He stopped paying what was due to FAAN for over eight months. He sacked all the staff and he went with over eight months of remittance. Till date, the money hasn’t been recovered; it’s now bad debt.
“We raised this concern with the management and we told them that if they want to give out it out, let us know how much they intend to collect monthly, then they should give us three months to see if we can generate more revenue than the amount that they want to concession. We told them that if we do not meet up with the target, then they can give it to whoever they want. Unfortunately, we learned that the minister said that they should go ahead and give it out.
“Our concern is that if a concessionaire is brought in, people will become redundant and may lose their jobs. You can’t expect the concessionaire to use FAAN staff they have to bring in their own people. Moreover, they cannot even afford to pay staff what they are presently earning. In Abuja for instance, we have four lanes and each lane is manned by one person and there are four shifts. If you now give the access gates out, what are these people going to do? We have been managing the gates for many years.
