No plan to cut power at Lagos airport – FAAN

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Monday said that there are no plans by Ikeja Distribution Company (IKEDC) to cut power supply to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, over alleged indebtedness.

Yakubu Dati, the FAAN spokesman, said the airport’s authority will continue to carry out its obligation to the power distribution company to enable it to serve its teeming clients at the airport, which require a power supply for seamless movement of passengers, cargoes and other operations.

He said information making the round that the power company is planning to cut the supply of electricity to the airport is part of the blackmail plot by some debtors, which are reluctant to pay what they owe the authority. He urged users of the airport and other stakeholders to discountenance any information suggesting that there would be a power outage at the Lagos airport on account of the alleged debts. He said FAAN has over the years maintained a good relationship with the power distribution company for a regular supply of power to the airport.

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“There is no planned black-out at the airport. FAAN is not owing Ikeja Distribution Company. People who are spreading such rumours of black-out at the airport are embarking on cheap blackmail. They are going under the radar to pull FAAN down.

“As service providers, we pay for the services rendered to us by the power company; this blackmail is coming from debtor contractors, who want to distract FAAN.” Meanwhile, FAAN has reiterated its call to debtors to pay up what they owe the authority else their names would be published in newspapers. Dati said some of the debtors have started reaching out to the debt recovery unit of FAAN for reconciliation of what they owe. “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) wishes to notify all its debtors, including airlines, concessionaires and other service providers at all Nigerian airports that the authority will soon publish a list of such debtors in major Nigerian newspapers as a prelude to other measures designed to help the authority recover all its outstanding debts.”