By LAWANI MIKAIRU

There was major disagreement recently between the officials of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN and A.I.C Limited owned by Chief Harry Akande over the land for the construction of A.I.C Hilton Hotel at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The question everybody has been asking is what should take precedence: the profit motive of an individual or the collective security of the nation’s airport and its users?

Vanguard was at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA), Lagos and  witnessed when officials of A.I.C Limited chased out FAAN officials from the landed property which was concessioned to it to build the A.I.C Hilton Hotel in 1998.

It was further gathered that FAAN had illegally broken into the landed property by destroying the fence and the gate house  built  by A.I.C Limited on the land against subsisting court order. After chasing the officials of FAAN out of the land, A.I.C officials erected the fence that was hitherto broken by FAAN which gave the agency the opportunity of using the land as a VIP car park for sometime.

Speaking to Vanguard, General Manager, Administration and Business Development, Chief Niyi Akande who spoke on behalf of the international business mogul, who was also present at the site, Chief Harry Akande said that A.I.C Limited got a bid from FAAN on February 17, 1998 to build an A.I.C Hilton Hotel in a concession agreement spanning  50 years but added that FAAN came all of a sudden to disrupt the project while the construction work was in progress which was against the initial agreement entered into by both parties.

*MMA

According to Chief Akande,  both parties have been in the Federal High Court which ruled in favour of A.I.C Limited restraining FAAN from taking over the landed property. He said; ”By bid that was dated 17th February 1998, FAAN gave us a 50 years lease on this land stretching all the way down for the construction of our international five-star hotel that will be connected to the airport terminal, this portion is where it is supposed to link the terminal and it has been peaceful since that time.

But at a time when FAAN decided to determine the lease, we challenged it at the Federal High Court, you know they chased our men off the site around 2000, 2001, so we went to court and at the Federal High Court, Justice R.O. Nwodo gave an interlocutory injunction.’’

But the General Manager, Corporate Communications of FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said that the land being claimed by A.I.C Limited rightly belongs to FAAN.

He said; “We wish to state in unequivocal terms that the parcel of land in question which is situated beside the international airport belongs to the authority and not to any concessionaire as claimed. About a decade ago, a concessionaire had requested for land for the development of a hotel and such was granted.

”However the transaction was subsequently enmeshed in controversy which resulted in arbitration. The arbitrator awarded damages to the said concessionaire while the land remained FAAN property. The concessionaire cannot therefore exercise legal right over the land but can pursue their interest i.e. monetary compensation as contained in the arbitrator award. The Lagos airport premises and land situated therein are sole property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and by their location are of security significance,” he added.

The head of Directorate of Legal Services of FAAN , Mr Mark Jacobs. has justified the withdrawal of the concession saying it did so for security reasons.