By Mbafan Ade (BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT) –
The Nigerian government, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE,) has signed a tripartite agreement with Portman Freight Services Limited and Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC), to lease a portion of the complex to the freight service company.
BPE’s Head, Public Communications, Amina Othman Tukur, who made this known today, said the signing the agreement took place on April 5, 2023 at the conference hall of the Bureau in Abuja.
Tukur quoted the Director-General of the BPE, Mr. Alex A. Okoh, to have noted that the event marked the commencement of the work on the portion of Parcel A and B that is not designated for concession and the standardization of lease agreements which will ultimately increase the earnings of the LITFC and the Federal Government in particular.
According to her, Mr. Okoh noted that in line with the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act (1999), the NCP approved the concession of LITFC to Aulic Nigeria Limited in 2007.
The Concession Agreement was, however, terminated by the NCP in 2017 due to failure of Aulic Nig. Ltd to meet covenants listed in the concession agreement and BPE was directed to immediately recommence the process of re-concession of the Complex.
Okoh further mentioned that, the Management Board of LITFC repossessed the enterprise from Aulic Nigeria Limited and the BPE immediately recommenced the process of re-concession of the LITFC as directed by the NCP on behalf of the FGN with the call for Expression of Interest (EOIs) on Monday, June 20th, 2022.
The DG added that in the process of carrying out the concessioning plan, it was discovered Portman Freight Services Limited had an existing 20-year lease agreement for Hall 4 with the former concessionaire (Aulic Nig. Ltd) before the termination of Aulic’s Concession by the NCP in August 2017.