Work is set to resume on the hotel and conference centre projects owned by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja. The twin projects are located opposite MMA2, also operated by BASL.
Sources in Bi-Courtney said the contractor for the projects, Stabilini Visinoni, would soon mobilise to site and complete the two projects “once and for all”.
According to the source, “all is now set for our contractor to move to site and see to the end of the projects, which have been there for a few years now. This time, we are determined to complete the projects and change the face of the Murtala Muhammed Airport environment for the better”.
The two projects have become a subject of litigation between Bi-Coutney and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the lessor of the land in which they are sited, following which a Federal High Court barred the agency from tampering with the project and the lease agreement in any form whatsoever.
The firm and the agency had entered into a 40 years lease agreement over the land on February 2, 2007.
But, while the projects were ongoing, a dispute arose over the lease agreement following which Bi-Courtney challenged the purported revocation of the lease by FAAN at the Federal High Court.
The matter, however, took a new turn as Justice Mohammed Idris assumed jurisdiction on the suit, despite the preliminary objection filed by the Federal Government.
The judge said Bi-Courtney’s action was properly filed, adding that “it is competent and the court has jurisdiction to hear it”.
In two letters, dated April 19, 2012, FAAN had informed Bi-Courtney that the leases granted it in respect of the two projects had been terminated. The agency hinged its action on alleged breaches committed in the agreements signed on the projects.
The court consequently stopped FAAN from interfering in the projects paving the way for Bi-Courtney to resume work.
