Despite talk shows and routine budgetary provisions the project has enjoyed in the last 16 years, there seems to be no end in sight for the delivery of the second runway for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.

The project, which is already 16 years old since its incubation, has amassed an estimated N161 billion in budgetary awards. While officials of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace continued to assure that the government is working to resolve its crises, findings have shown that the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), is no longer on site.

A breakdown of the budgetary allocation revealed that N10 billion was budgeted in 2017, in 2018 N8billion, 2019 N13 billion, 2021 N14 billion and 2022 N20 billion, making a total of N65 billion.

In 2022, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N92.12 billion for constructing the second runway, with an expected 12-month completion timeline. Similarly, in May 2023, the FEC also approved an additional N3.4 billion for post-contract consultancy fees.

Amidst these approvals is a history of a project conceived in 2009 and awarded to Julius Berger at a cost of N64 billion. The contract was thrown out by the House of Representatives, which argued that the cost was outrageous.

A history of delays

The House later revoked the project in 2010 and ordered the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) to conduct a fresh bidding.

The project didn’t come to the limelight again until 2017 when the federal government had to shut down the Abuja Airport Runway for repairs for about six weeks, and flights were diverted to Kaduna Airport.

The former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had made the second runway one of his eight-point agenda. The contract was then awarded to the CCECC at the cost of N90 billion.

After the initial challenge of paucity of funds, the Federal Capital Territory allocated 12,000 hectares of land at the Jiwa community for the construction of a runway, maintenance and cargo facilities.

Although Sirika had expressed optimism that the runway would be ready before the expiration of his tenure in May 2023, the major issue of compensation for the indigenes of the Jiwa community had not been sorted.

With the coming of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to office, he mandated the FCT Minister, Nyeson Wike and the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, to see to it that the contractor moves to the site.

The handing over of the 12,000 hectares of land by the Head of the Jiwa Community, Emir of Jiwa, Idris Isah, was greeted with fanfare and lots of promises to the people of the community, who were not happy to relinquish their ancestral land.

The minister had promised that the construction of the runway in their community would attract job opportunities for their teaming youths. According to Keyamo, the government Is ready to build a health centre bridge and a five-kilometre road within the community. The minister said the country’s law could not allow the government to compensate the community more than N825 million for the Abuja runway.

After receiving the N30 billion initial payment, the contractor was said to have worked with FCTA to compensate the people of the community. The CCECC, however, cited an “unacceptable contract variation” as the reason for halting work, indicating that changes in the scope or conditions had made the original contract terms untenable.

They further revealed reasons for the increase to changes in project scope, price variation, and foreign exchange fluctuation. Industry stakeholders underscored the necessity of completing the second runway, emphasising its role in reducing flight delays often caused by VIP movements in Abuja and unscheduled maintenance of the runway.

Also, as a result of expansion in global air travel, airlines now use large, wide-bodied, long-haul aircraft like the A380, B777, A350 and the B787 Dreamliner. All these equipment require long runways to land and short turnaround times for flights to be able to drop and pick up passengers for the next destination.

The Special Assistant to the Minister of Aviation on Media, Tunde Moshood, confirmed that no decision has been made regarding the contract, but assured that the government would soon make its position known.

Aviation stakeholder, Capt. Ado Sanusi, while speaking recently on a television show, said, “This is not the first time we have built a runway, and we are not the first country that is building a runway.

He added: “Convert the money that the contractor is quoting to dollars. Look at other countries and how much they have built their runways. And if the contractor is overcharging Nigeria, blacklist him.”

“We have over 22 airports in the country, for goodness sake. Why are we saying that a contractor has charged more? We have engineers, we have quantity surveyors, they can go and look at it.” He stated. (The Guardian)