AIC Group, a company owned by business mogul and politician, Chief Harry Akande, and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria on Monday rekindled a 12-year-old battle over the ownership of a 11.654-hectare of land meant for the construction of the multibillion naira Hilton Hotel at the Lagos airport.
The project plan includes two international hotels, a shopping mall, an amusement park and light rail to connect the international airport to the local terminal, among others.
The fresh battle, which led to Akande coming to the site of the controversial land on Monday afternoon, followed FAAN’s alleged encroachment into the land over the weekend without recourse to the court.
AIC had in 1998 won the bid for a 50-year lease of the 11.654-hectare land. In 2000, however, the company was stopped from starting work on the hotel project by FAAN operatives. The development forced AIC to sue FAAN at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
Following a court ruling in 2002, an arbitration panel headed by the late Justice Kayode Eso was appointed. The panel awarded $47m damages for loss of revenue over a period of 10 years for which the project was disrupted in favour of AIC.
FAAN, however, went to court to contend the ownership of the land. The matter has been in court since. FAAN, however, allegedly encroached on the controversial land and started grading some portion of it for parking of cars.
Officials of AIC, led by Akande, on arriving at the site on Monday, reinstated the wired fence through which FAAN operatives broke through with a caterpillar to grade the land.
Although some top officials of FAAN came to the site, they did not stop the process. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Airport Command, Mr. Haliru Gwandu, and his men, were also around to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.
The General Manager, Administration and Business Development, AIC Group, Chief Niyi Akande, told reporters that the company came to repossess its land pending the final judgment by the court.
He said the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. George Uriesi, might be jailed if he continued to encourage the agency to flout court orders.
But FAAN insisted that the land in question belonged to the Federal Government.
A statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said, “The attention of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has been drawn to a recent altercation over a parcel of land owned by the authority and presently being used as a temporary car park to ease up the traffic at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
“We wish to state in unequivocal terms that the parcel of land in question, which is situated besides the international airport, belongs to the authority and not to any concessionaire as claimed. About a decade ago, a concessionaire had requested for land for the development of a hotel and such was granted. However, the transaction was subsequently enmeshed in controversy, which resulted in arbitration.
“The arbitrator awarded damages to the said concessionaire, while the land remained FAAN’s property. The concessionaire cannot, therefore, exercise legal right over the land but can pursue its interest, that is, monetary compensation, as contained in the arbitral award. The Lagos airport premises and land situated therein are sole property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and by their location are of security significance.”