Gombe leads debtor airports as FAAN hammer falls

From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) late last night made real it threat to withdraw critical services to defaulting airports mostly state own whose debt profile the agency described as alarming with the current figure own it hitting over a billion Naira.
Gome leads airports whose security and Airport Fire and Rescue Services were withdrawn midnight on Sunday as well Kebbi and Bebi airports.
The duo of Osubi and the Murtala Muhammad Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2) had earlier received their baptism of service withdrawal following months of negotiations which did not yield fruitful results.
Following a final notice of payment issued to the above airports over a month, FAAN in a statement notifies airlines, passengers and the general public that effective midnight of Sunday December 9, 2018, it is constrained to withdraw the services to the debtor aerodromes.
Giving a break down of debt profile of three of the airports, FAAN image make and General Manager, Corporate Communication, Mrs. Herientta Yakubu said “ This action has become imperative as the management of Gombe airport is indebted to the Authority to the tune of N607,289,972, while Kebbi and Bebi airports are indebted to the tune of N124,547,240 and N76,772,948 respectively without any concerted effort to pay up the debt.”
She said the authority has issued a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) to this effect so as to give operators into the airports the opportunity to review their logistics plan.