The $500 million terminals constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) at Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt airports are not likely to be delivered this year due to some noticeable technical deficiencies.
Indication to this was given by the minister of state for aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika who said at aviation stakeholders’ meeting held in Lagos that the new terminal at Abuja Airport, for instance had blocked the control tower and fire service station
“The terminals were done, kudos to the originators to the best of their thinking. The Abuja terminal that is nearing completion is blocking the control tower and fire service station.
“Because it has been built, we need to knock down the N3 billion control tower and knock down the fire station which will cost about N2 billion. The one in Lagos also has some technical issues; it is sitting on heavy cables,” he said.
He said the four terminals are not constructed on a build operate and transfer basis neither are they based on any concession arrangement.
He said the projects are a $500m loan from China and a $100 million counterpart funding by the Nigerian government.
“The biggest of those terminals will be doing 1.5million passengers annually but what we are looking at is different and larger.”
Sirika said if he had such money, he would have used it to develop the Lagos airport and turn it into a hub in West Africa.
It would be recalled that the terminals were originally scheduled for completion and hand over in the first quarter of 2016 but deferred to the last quarter of the year.
However, with the observed lapses in them, it is unlikely that they would be completed and delivered within the period.
