David Akachukwu
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The Enugu State Caucus in the House of Representatives has expressed strong support for the federal government’s proposal to concession the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, calling it a promising driver for the economic growth of the South East.
The caucus praised the federal government for initiating the concession and urged it to expedite the process so that the people of the South East and the broader nation can begin to reap the benefits as soon as possible.
They also appealed to the people of the region to back the concession effort, emphasizing that it is the only viable way to attract sustainable investment that will fully transform the airport into a world-class international facility.
This position was outlined in a statement released on Monday and signed by the caucus leader, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, along with Hon. Martins Oke, Hon. Dennis Agbo, Hon. Anayo Onwuegbu, Hon. Chimaobi Atu, Hon. Sunday Umeha, Hon. Paul Nnamchi, and Hon. Mark Obetta, who represent all eight federal constituencies in Enugu State.
“Due to poor capital investment, the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, AIIA, Enugu, remains partially completed and indeed an international airport only in name over two decades since it was designated as such by the federal government. Critical components such as cargo terminal, runway, international terminal, among others, are either non-existent or requiring completion or upgrade.
“Businesses and the people of the South East especially have borne the brunt of these inadequacies, which manifest in the paucity of international flights and intermittent closure of the airport for repair of the runway, as recently witnessed.
“Therefore, we believe that the concessioning of the airport, as currently being processed by the federal government, is the only realistic approach to attracting adequate resources to build the requisite infrastructure and expand existing ones to place AIIA in the league of other international airports around the world,” the caucus said.
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The statement explained that concessioning was not the same thing as privatisation or sale of the airport as being peddled by some persons, but a well-known and tenured to Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework, which pulls private capital investment into public infrastructure while government retains ownership and regulatory or supervisory authority.
“We call on the federal government to hasten this process, for the people of the South East region in particular and Nigeria in general to start benefiting from the huge possibilities and blessings it holds.
“Indeed, we also have faith in federal government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to entrust AIIA to a concessionaire with the financial and technical prowess, strong international pedigree and reputation as well as antecedent of verifiable successes to actualise the target. Nothing less than this is acceptable and capable of catalyzing the much-needed South East regional economic prosperity and transformation,” the statement added.
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Jonathan Nwokpor
