Expenses Variation, Additional Facilities May Push Cost of 4 International Terminals to $2bn

Chinedu Eze

Despite the inauguration of the new international terminal at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos last week, it has emerged that the facility is not yet completed with the federal government requiring additional money to make the facility ready for full utilization, THISDAY has learnt.

It was also learnt that the current situation of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, is the same with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which has been partly put to use since two years ago despite the lack of some essential facilities.

THISDAY investigation revealed that out of the four airport terminals in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt built with Chinese loan of $500 million with counterpart fund of $100 million, the two terminals in Lagos and Abuja will need extra facilities to make them functional.

Competent sources told THISDAY that the additional funds would bring the total cost of the projects at the four international terminals to about $2 billion.

According to a source who do not want his name in print, the two terminals at the Lagos and Abuja airports need additional critical features, “because they were located at wrong places. So existing installations, buildings and attendant equipment have to be demolished and rebuilt at other locations at huge cost to expand the terminals for full operations.”

THISDAY also learnt that although the four terminals have been inaugurated, the variations to remedy structural deficiencies and to expand the facilities had already cost China additional $150 million, while the federal government is yet to pay its own additional counterpart funding to speed the work and complete the projects.

It was learnt that the additional funding would be incurred because many buildings around the project in Lagos and Abuja would be destroyed and rebuilt to make the terminals fully functional.

THISDAY learnt that the additional $150 million incurred by China in the project was to connect the new terminal in Lagos and Abuja to the old one in order to have seamless passenger movement, as the train station, which is located at the new terminal in Abuja would have to process passengers from both the local and international terminals.

But a study on the infrastructural limitation of the airport, funded by the then Ministry of Transportation in 2018, disclosed that there were many facilities that must be relocated before the terminal would become operational.

The study, which was carried out by Arcaid, Architects and Environmental Consultants, revealed that the new airport terminals built at the cost of $600 million (N2.16 billion in 2018) are inadequate for targeted passenger traffic and lacked essential facilities.

The report of the studies made available to THISDAY, disclosed that to provide the infrastructures that are lacking in the terminals, government has to deploy over $500 million.  

This is in addition to the funds needed to destroy and relocate fire service in Abuja and Lagos airports, the control tower, reinforcement of power supply and others.

Details of the report disclosed that adequate feasibility study was not carried out before locating the terminals at the area of the Abuja and Lagos airports where the facilities obstructed the fire service and the control tower respectively.

The studies also revealed that essential facilities that were absent in the new terminals include landside link, which ought to link the new terminal to the old, drop off canopy, access roads, apron and taxiway, water treatment upgrade and power improvement equipment.

Reacting to the studies by the consultants in 2018, the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, regretted the additional funds that would be deployed to make the projects fully functional.

Sirika explained that the planning of the project did not envisage that the building would lead to additional works, power and water supply, adding that it was also discovered that the building would block both the control and fire towers which would require relocation, so additional work was required to link it with the existing terminal as well as expanding the apron to accommodate bigger airplanes.

“The contractor has told us some of the challenges he has been facing regarding some of the components of work and some additional works required for this project to be put into use. Unfortunately, some of these components are complex which would delay this job and some of them are from the foundation like that of the sewer and water. There is also the problem of the control tower blocking the access into the terminal apron and also the inadequate nature of the apron itself,” Sirika said.

THISDAY learnt that some facilities have been installed so far in Abuja, however, the fire service and the control tower are yet to be relocated and that explained why the avio bridges on the runway side of the terminal are yet to be put to use.

Also in Lagos, Accident Investigation Building (AIB) that has been demolished and also Dominion hangar and EAN (Evergreen) hangar have to be relocated before the ramp would be expanded to create enough space for maneuverability of large body aircraft to the apron of the new terminal.

But informed source from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told THISDAY that the fund already expended was yet to hit $1 billion, although there are a lot of things that would be done that would call for more funds.

“The Chinese were asked to add $150 million to the project. The money is not yet up to a billion dollars, but the major challenge is that the federal government is not paying its counterpart funds,” the source told THISDAY.

In 2013 Nigeria obtained $500 million loan from the Chinese Exim Bank with additional counterpart funding of $100 million to build four terminals at the four major airports in the country, including the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.