The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has signed a tripartite agreement with Portman Freight Services Limited and Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC) to lease a portion of the complex to the freight service company.
A statement by the Head, Public Communications, BPE, Hajiya Amina Othman Tukur, on Monday said the Director General of the BPE, Mr. Alex Okoh, while signing the agreement last week, noted that the event marks the commencement of the work on the portion of Parcel A and B that is not designated for concession and the standardization of lease agreements which will ultimately increase the earnings of the LITFC and the Federal Government in particular.
Mr. Okoh noted that in line with the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act (1999), the NCP approved the concession of LITFC to Aulic Nigeria Limited in 2007.
However, the Concession Agreement was terminated by the NCP in 2017 due to the failure of Aulic Nigeria Ltd to meet covenants listed in the concession agreement and BPE was directed to immediately recommence the process of re-concession of the Complex.
He further mentioned that, the Management Board of LITFC repossessed the enterprise from Aulic Nigeria Limited and the BPE immediately recommenced the process of re-concession of the LITFC as directed by the NCP on behalf of the FGN with the call for Expression of Interest (EOIs) on Monday, June 20th, 2022.
The DG added that in the process of carrying out the concessioning plan, it was discovered Portman Freight Services Limited had an existing 20-year lease agreement for Hall 4 with the former concessionaire (Aulic Nig. Ltd) before the termination of Aulic’s Concession by the NCP in August 2017.