The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation says it will not allow a private sector monopoly to replace government monopoly in the aviation industry. It has, therefore, promised to revisit the agreement leading to the emergence of Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2. The MMA2 terminal came into being in 2007 through a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited. Based on the agreement, the company could run the section for 36 years before handing it over to the Federal Government. The agreement also gives the company first option of handling any expansion at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), being operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)'

``We have been informed about issues concerning the new MMA2 terminal and we have to look at the concession arrangement,'' chairman of the house committee, Bethel Amadi told Newsmen today in Lagos. As the committee wrapped up its two-day visit to the airport, Bethel said that there was conflicting information about the status of that terminal. ``While we want to encourage private
sector participation in the industry which is very necessary at this level, we will not replace a government monopoly with a private monopoly," he said. ``Proper regulatory framework needs
to be put in place to safeguard our national interest,'' he said. The position of the House Committee
may pitch it against that of the minister of aviation, Mr Felix Hyat who had said that the agreement would not be revisited.

The vexed issue has been a constant source of friction between unions in the aviation industry and the operators of the terminal, NAN reports. Amadi also spoke of the committee's resolve to move the aviation industry forward, noting that the visit had brought to the fore, the pitiable state of facilities in the sector. He said that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) needed to be more
assertive in its regulation of the industry.  ``We need to provide adequate funding for staffers to be trained and re-trained and it  has to be a continuous exercise,'' he added.

He expressed regrets that some of its experienced workers had been lost to brain drain.
Amadi mandated FAAN to ensure an upgrade of its Consumer Protection Unit (CPU) to cope with challenges of ensuring that Nigerians were no more maltreated by foreign and domestic carriers.
He said the body had major problems with inadequate fire tenders, poor perimeter fencing and absence of water supply, apart from poor runways among others. ``We are determined to change the face of the industry". Amadi assured.