FAAN Terminates Contract With I-CUBE Operating MMIA toll gate

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has terminated the concession of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport tollgate in Lagos to its concessionaire, Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa Limited (I-CUBE).

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, affirmed that FAAN had terminated the contract and had taken charge of the tollgate.

The termination of the contract comes just after a clash between the agency’s workers and I-CUBE on Tuesday.

Officers of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Air Force had earlier taken over the tollgate on Tuesday at the height of the clash.

The officers were deployed to restore peace to the area following a disagreement between aviation unions in FAAN and the managers of I-CUBE over the tollgate contract agreement.

While the presence of the officials restored peace to the area, it also provided free access to motorists as the tollgate was left open for everyone to pass freely for some hours before FAAN took over.

Hundreds of FAAN workers had on Monday took over the collection of tolls at the entrance of the MMIA, Lagos, alleging that I-CUBE’s contract with the agency had expired over a year ago.

The Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, National Union of Air Transport Employees, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals and National Union of Pensioners dislodged the concessionaire and took over the facility at about 7 AM.

The Secretary-General, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, Abdulrasaq Saidu, told journalists that the management of the access gate was the sole responsibility of FAAN’s commercial department.

Saidu explained that the concession had not been reviewed for more than five years and described the situation as fraudulent.

The Executive Director of Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa, Mr Toluwaleke Abajingin, said the company was surprised at the development as it had been remitting money to the agency.
He also stated that the case was in court.

In related report by Transport Day, FAAN has been directed by the House of Representatives to refund Sixty- Six billion naira.

“The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to explain why it remitted only N9bn out of about N75bn it generated between 2014 and 2019.

The House asked the FAAN to remit the N66bn to the Federal Government coffers within two weeks if it could not account for the non-remittance.

The management of the FAAN had appeared before the House Committee on Finance in Abuja on Tuesday to account for its revenues and remittances.

The committee, however, noted irregularities in the figures presented by the FAAN”, the report read.