Lagos Govt gets FG's approval to construct new airport in Lekki

Mr. Ope George, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Public Private Partnerships (PPP), disclosed this at a media parley held on Friday, October 7, 2022.

George said the Sanwo-led administration has sought and obtained the Federal Government's approval to embark on construction of the new airport in Lagos.

According to the governor’s aide, the project, which is billed to take off next year, will be seated on a 3,500 hectares of land, with the master plan and aeronautical designs already in place.

George also stated that studies were still ongoing about strategies, funding, and other peripheral issues, after which the project will be thrown into the marketplace.

He added that, when completed, the airport will cater to a minimum of five million passengers per year.

The airport funding: Pulse gathered that the state's airport project, which was conceived during the administration of former Governor, Babatunde Fashola at an estimated cost of $450 million, had stalled over the years.

The Fashola administration pushed an investment prospectus to the global business community at the time with little result to show for it.

The airport was proposed as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the government, which would provide the land and other complementary infrastructure while the would-be investors would construct the airport on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Manage (DBFOM) basis under a competitive tender process and in accordance with international best practices.

The Lagos State government later employed the services of four rated firms as consultants on the airport project.

They included Arup, a firm of consultant engineers, designers, planners and technical specialists; Norton Rose Fulbright, a global legal firm with 54 offices worldwide; Stanbic IBTC Capital, a member of Standard Bank Group, which was appointed sole financial adviser, and Banwo & Ighodalo, a Nigeria-based law firm, reported Daily Trust.

However, despite all these efforts over the years, the project has failed to really kick-off. But, the Sanwo-administration appears poised to revive the project, which will be constructed in partnership with local and foreign investors.