By Anthony Nwachukwu
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has announced maritime players, SIFAX Group and ENL Consortium, as reserve bidders for the ongoing Nigerian airports concession.
Sirika, who addressed newsmen in Abuja Wednesday, disclosed that in line with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) Act, 2005, Request for Proposals (RFP) phase of the Nigeria Airports Concession Programme (NACP) ended on September 19th, 2022.
He named the preferred bidder for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, as Corporacion America Airports Consortium, while ENL Consortium is the reserve bidder.
He also named TAV/NAHCO/Project Plant Limited (PPL) Consortium as the preferred for Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, with SIFAX/Changi Consortium as reserve bidder.
The preferred bidder for Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, is Corporacion America Airports Consortium, but no reserve bidder yet, while Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) did not receive proposals as at the deadline for Request for Proposal (RFP).
According to Sirika, the ministry was already consulting with the ICRC and other stakeholders for the fourth airport asset, which did not receive bids as at the time of the RFP deadline, noting that it was a multi-stage process, and the final outcome of NACP was yet being awaited.
According to him, “the next stage of the programme is the negotiations and due diligence stage, during which the ministry will invite preferred bidders to enter into detailed negotiations with its representatives, with a view to developing a Full Business Case (FBC) before onward transmission to ICRC for review and approval.
“Only after a successful conclusion of the negotiation and due diligence stage will the FBC and all other approvals be presented before the Federal Executive Council for final approval.”
He urged all participants who had responded to RFP to continue referring to the NACP for all updates and relevant documentation, including updated FAQs.