By Sisaa Agboh<\/p>\n
The once burgeoning\u00a0 \u00a0Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC) has
\nbeen in the news lately for the wrong reasons. It is apt to address the
\ndog whistle campaigns that have emerged in the wake of the recent
\nrevocation of the concession of LITFC granted to Aulic Nigeria Limited by
\nthe Federal Government.<\/p>\n
At its meeting of August 22 and 23, 2017, the\u00a0 National Council on
\nPrivatisation (NCP), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, revoked the
\nconcession over LITFC, and ordered its secretariat, the Bureau of Public
\nEnterprises, to commence another privatisation exercise that will lead to
\nthe emergence of another concessionaire.\u00a0 Professor Nick Ezeh is the
\npromoter and Chairman of Aulic Nigeria Limited and has raised concerns and
\npushed misleading information with his intervention over the revocation in
\nthe media.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government had to intervene because it could not afford to
\nallow a key national asset to deteriorate in the manner that it has since
\nAulic Group took over as concessionaire. We, therefore, wish to apprise
\nthe public of the facts that premised the government\u2019s intervention.<\/p>\n
The NCP approved the concession of LITFC in 2007 to Aulic (the
\nconcessionaire). The concession of the 322 hectares of land in LITFC was
\ngiven at a lease fee of N40 billion to be paid over 30 years. The
\nConcession Agreement was signed with Aulic Nigeria Limited on June 29,
\n2007. Aulic Nigeria Limited paid an entry fee of N200 million in 2008 and
\nthe sum of N12, 731,000.00 for the moveable assets. Since then, the
\ncompany has not paid any additional fees to Government, even though it
\ntook over the complex nine years ago.<\/p>\n
It is true that the entire complex could not be handed over to Aulic Group
\nowing to resistance by the Traders\u2019 Associations that had subsisting
\nleases and the fact that Parcel B was not available for practical
\nhandover.<\/p>\n
However, the NCP, in January 2013, took some major decisions to address
\nthe concession challenges, including a facility audit of the assets and
\ntenants at the complex as a prelude to excising the contentious portions
\nof the concession areas occupied by the Traders\u2019 Associations, places of
\nreligious worships and Parcel B. The key part of the NCP intervention was
\nthat the concession contract was to be renegotiated for a new lease fee to
\nreflect the new area.<\/p>\n
Despite participating in the process that gave rise to the NCP\u2019s
\ndecisions, Aulic Nigeria Limited immediately stalled the implementation of
\nthe decisions via a petition to the House of Representatives Committee on
\nPrivatisation and filing of a law suit.<\/p>\n
In revoking the concession, the NCP noted that the concessionaire had no
\nstandard management team in place and therefore, its corporate governance
\nstandard was very weak. Council lamented that Aulic Nigeria Ltd had made
\nthe implementation of the former\u2019s decisions impossible while making money
\nfrom illegal leases without any effort to pay the annual lease fees to the
\nFederal Government since it took over the complex in 2007. It is apt to
\npoint out that the concessionaire is currently indebted to the Federal
\nGovernment to the tune of N6, 542,172,000.<\/p>\n
We also wish to draw the attention of the public to the fact that Aulic
\nhad sub-leased to third parties the following areas of LITFC contrary to
\nthe requirements of the Development Plan and without the approval of the
\nManagement Board as enshrined in the Concession Contract:(a)The Lawn
\nTennis Court, opposite Trade Fair Motel \u2013 sub-leased to private
\nindividuals;(b)Land opposite Progressive Plaza \u2013 sub-leased to Motor
\nDealers and Allied Products Association;(c)Land opposite ASPAMDA \u2013
\nsub-leased to Old Mercedes Trucks Spare Parts and Scrap Metal Dealers\u2019
\nAssociation;(d)Land opposite ASPAMDA \u2013 sub-leased to Coker Building
\nMaterials Dealers\u2019 Association; and(e)Land behind Trade Fair Police
\nStation \u2013 sub-leased to Chinese Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).<\/p>\n
Aulic\u2019s serial breaches of the Concession Contract include the following
\ncases:(i)Construction works that are taking place at the areas sub-leased
\nwithout the approval of the Management Board; (ii)Uncoordinated toll gates
\nmanned by touts;(iii)The road network at the complex is in a deplorable
\nstate; (iv)Aulic has no standard management team in place\u2014the lessee\u2019s
\noffice\/staff strength and structure do not show any sign of a standard,
\nready-to-perform management team; (v)Refuse dumps litter the estate at all
\ntimes;(vi)At least three \u2018Mammy Markets\u2019 have sprung up in the complex
\nwith a lot of miscreants and hoodlums operating there; (vii)Various
\nhousing structures have been built in the complex without approval. Some
\nof these buildings were wrongly sited either on sewer lines or almost on
\nexisting roads; (viii) A ramshackle mechanic village unbefitting the
\ninternational status of LITFC was operating in the complex; and (ix) Since
\nthe handover of the complex to Aulic in 2008 till date, the exhibition
\nhalls have been in a deplorable state, compelling the Lagos Chamber of
\nCommerce and Industry to relocate their yearly trade fair to Tafawa Balewa
\nSquare.<\/p>\n
From the foregoing, it is clear that the Concessionaire has been in breach
\nof the concession agreement; hence the government\u2019s decision to revoke it
\nto save the Complex from further deterioration. Rather than explain why
\nhis company failed to execute the terms of the Lease Agreement, Ezeh has
\ndecided to play the ostrich.<\/p>\n
It must be noted that the Bureau of Public Enterprises, which serves as
\nthe secretariat of NCP, has handled concessions at Nigerian ports and most
\nof the port concessionaries are doing very well and are paying their lease
\nfees. Why is that of LITFC different?<\/p>\n
\uf0d8\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Sisaa Agboh is of the Public Communications Unit of the Bureau of
\nPublic Enterprises<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Sisaa Agboh The once burgeoning\u00a0 \u00a0Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC) has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons. It is apt to address the dog whistle…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n