The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), said it 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.
While signing the agreement on Wednesday, April 5, at the conference hall of the Bureau, the Director-General, BPE, Alex Okoh, was quoted as saying that the event marks the commencement of work on the portion of Parcel A and B that is not designated for concession.
It also marked the standardization of lease agreements which will ultimately increase the earnings of the LITFC and the Federal Government in particular, the Bureau said in a statement.
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 failure of Aulic Nigeria 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 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.
He added that in the process of carrying out the concession plan, it was discovered Portman Freight Services had an existing 20-year lease agreement for Hall 4 with the former concessionaire (Aulic Nigeria) before the termination of Aulic’s Concession by the NCP in August 2017.
It also marked the standardization of lease agreements which will ultimately increase the earnings of the LITFC and the Federal Government in particular.