Trending 
After nearly 20 years of legal battles over the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) in Lagos, Nigeria and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited have finally reached a settlement, Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo announced on Thursday.
Keyamo spoke to reporters after the Executive Council meeting in Abuja, where the terms of the deal were approved.
“I can happily tell you that this government has resolved that issue once and for all,” he said.
N132 billion debt written off
One of the biggest takeaways from the agreement is that Bi-Courtney has agreed to walk away from a N132 billion judgment debt, which included accumulated interest.
“The Supreme Court said the Federal Government should pay him N132bn plus interest… I told him nobody was going to pay that. He wrote it off,” Keyamo explained.
Both sides also decided to remove an exclusivity clause from the original concession deal. That clause had blocked the development of other private airports within a certain distance from Lagos, holding up several proposed projects in the state, according to the minister.
Other parts of the deal
Under the settlement, authorities gave back to Bi-Courtney a hotel and conference centre project near MMA2 that had previously been taken away. A new deadline has been set for completing that project.
More regional flight operations will also be moved to the terminal to boost traffic and make the facility more commercially viable.
On the other side, Nigeria will now start collecting revenue from MMA2 operations under the new arrangement.
“At the end of the day, it was a very good deal for everybody. Give and take,” Keyamo said.
How the dispute started
The disagreement goes back to 2003. That year, Nigeria gave Bi-Courtney, a company backed by Wale Babalakin, the right to build and run a private terminal after the old domestic terminal in Lagos was destroyed by fire.
MMA2 began operating in 2007. But soon after, arguments broke out over what exactly the concession covered, including who had rights to extra airport facilities and revenue. Those arguments turned into years of court cases.
The Supreme Court eventually ruled in Bi-Courtney’s favour, awarding the company a large compensation package.
The MMA2 fight has been seen as one of the most complicated concession disputes in Nigerian aviation history, raising questions about contract enforcement and investor confidence.
Signing ceremony coming up
A formal signing event is expected to happen in Lagos, where the full details of the agreement will be shared with the public.
Keyamo also announced that the Executive Council has approved a national aircraft leasing framework to help local airlines gain better access to aircraft.
The plan, backed by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, will rely on private sector investment. The government will provide guarantees to support the aviation industry, he said.
