The Federal government took the decision to revoke the concession of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC) last week because the Concessionaire, Aulic Nigeria Limited grossly breached the concession contract, BusinessDay has gathered.
Top on the contract breach is that Aulic Nigeria Limited is yet to pay a lease indebtedness of N6, 542,172,000 accumulated over the years to the federal government.
The 322-hectares LITFC was concessioned to Aulic in 2007 for N40 billion lease fees to be paid over 30 years. The concessionaire, BusinessDay gathered, paid just an entry fee of N200 million and another N12, 731,000 for the moveable assets till date.
Consequently, the National Council on Privatisation has directed the relevant government authorities to recover the over N6.5 billion lease indebtedness as quickly as possible.
The NCP is further concerned that Aulic also sub-leased portions of trade fair complex illegally to third parties contrary to the requirements of the development plan and without the approval of the management Board as enshrined in the concession contract.
According to presidency sources, the portion of the complex illegally leased by Aulic include the lawn tennis court, opposite trade fair motel, sub-leased to private individuals; a land opposite progressive plaza, which was sub-leased to Motor dealers and allied products association; as well as a land opposite ASPAMDA, which it sub-leased to old Mercedes Trucks Spare Parts and Scrap Metal Dealers’ Association.
Aulic also violated the contract agreement by sub-leasing another land opposite ASPAMDA to Coker Building Materials Dealers’ Association and also a land behind trade fair police station to Chinese Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).
On Monday, September 4, 2017, the National Council on Privatisation chaired by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, approved the immediate revocation of the concession to Aulic Nigeria Limited which won the trade fair complex concession in 2007.
The NCP also constituted an inter-agency Interim Management Committee comprising representatives of the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and investment and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to manage LITFC.
It was gathered that at the two days meeting which held at the Presidential Villa, on the 22 and 23rd of August, the NCP Council which is the highest decision making body on policies relating to the privatisation and commercialization policies of the Federal Government mandated the BPE to promptly initiate the process of a new concession transaction to be concluded within six months.
The Council was also concerned that the concessionaire had no standard management team in place and therefore, its corporate governance standard was very weak.
The Council also lamented that Aulic Nigeria ltd has made the implementation of its decisions impossible while making money from illegal leases without any effort to pay the annual lease fees to the federal government since it took over the complex in 2007.
BuisnessDAY further gathered that the NCP deplored the illegal antics of the concessionaire which has led Aulic Nigeria limited to sublease various parcels of land to individuals and groups and construction works taking place at the areas sub-leased without the approval of the management board of LITFC.
Documents obtained by BusinessDay from the presidency further indicated that Aulic’s serial breaches of the concession contract includes embarking on construction works at the areas sub-leased without the approval of the management board.
Aulic was also said to have built various housing structures in the complex without approval. Some of the buildings were said to have been wrongly sited either on sewer lines or on existing roads while the road network is in a deplorable state. The complex also contained un-coordinated toll gates manned by touts and had left the road network in a very deplorable state, with refuse dumps littering the estate at all times.
The document showed that at least three ‘mammy markets’ have sprung up in the complex with a lot of miscreants and hoodlums operating there.
Besides, the NCP is concerned that a ramshackle mechanic village unbefitting the international status of the LITFC was operating in the complex.
The Council further raised the concerns that since the handover of the complex to Aulic in 2008 till date, the exhibition halls have been in a deplorable state, compelling the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry to relocate their yearly trade fairs to Tafawa Balewa Square.
Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja
