Asaba airport concession: Delta confirms N1bn upfront payment

The Delta State Commissioner for Finance, Fidelis Tilije, has disclosed that N1 billion has hit the state’s treasury as compulsory upfront payment from Asaba International Airport Company Limited.

He said that the payment was in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the state government and the private company made up of private consortiums.

Tilije made the disclosure on Wednesday while playing host to executives of the Asaba Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State chapter, led by Dominic Adewole.

Recently, during the signing of the MOU, the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, had said that the company would remit N100 million yearly to the coffers of the state government but pay N1 billion upfront to the state on or before the first 15 days of business operation.

The concessionaires have the mandate to invest N28 billion in capital projects in the next three years and run the Asaba International Airport for an initial 30-year period, he said.

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The governor had assured that the treaty would shore up the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base of the state, provide employment and enhance better service delivery at the airport.

Tilije said the N1bn has already hit the state’s treasury via its Zenith Bank account and the government was extremely joyous at the development.

He said the present administration in the state would not betray the yearnings for people-oriented projects or jeopardise the collective interest for good governance.

The concession agreement between the state government and the company had attracted criticisms, with the critics describing it as a bad deal for the state.

But Tilije said that those who know what an airport should look like will marvel in the next one year at what the visionary governor has done.

He said the rapid work on the dualisation of the Asaba-Ughelli-Warri federal road is a blessing in disguise for the budding international airport.

He commended the media for the critical role of promoting the ‘Stronger Delta’ mantra of Governor Okowa.