Relocation: FG pulls trump card on Virgin Nigeria

The federal government last week exposed inadequacies in the agreement signed between it and Virgin Nigeria warning the airline against subtle blackmail. ANTHONY OMOH reviews activities and intrigues of the last few weeks.

Virgin Nigeria seem to have stepped on the tail of a rattle snake after various sponsored statements in national dailies over their alleged forceful relocation of their domestic operations from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) at the expiration of the deadline given to them by the federal government.

It was topic for discussion in various quarters that the FG had shamelessly rescinded its order for the airline to relocate, however the Federal Government on Sunday defended the eviction of Virgin Nigeria from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and warned that it would not tolerate blackmail from the airline.

The Special Adviser on Communications to the President, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, accused the airline of engaging in propaganda, saying it will not allow any foreign company or investor to short-change the country that the airline had no valid claim to operate from any international airport terminal in the country.

The chairman of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, had claimed that a document endorsed by a former Minister of Aviation, Mallam Isa Yuguda, granted the airline the rights to use the international wings of the MMA and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

He also said that Virgin agreed to set up a national carrier under some strict conditions, including the ability to operate domestic and international flights out of the same terminal, which is the only way a carrier of any country could operate.

Branson’s statement read, "To my utter dismay, certain authorities in Nigeria have chosen to ignore our contract, sending in heavies a few months ago to smash up our domestic lounge with sledgehammers, in an attempt to intimidate the airline.

"The behaviour of the authorities was not what I would have expected from the authorities in Nigeria."

However Adeniyi dismissed the document, stating that it was inappropriate and was written on Virgin Nigeria’s letter-head and signed by Branson before Yuguda endorsed it on behalf of the Federal Government further stating that the document, which contained ten demands from Branson, was not binding on Nigeria.

Adeniyi described as "unfortunate" Yuguda’s endorsement of the document, which according to him, was not part of the memorandum of mutual understanding between the Federal Government and Virgin Atlantic Limited/Virgin Airways Limited.

He said, "In that letter, addressed to the then Minister of Aviation, Mallam Isa Yuguda, the current Governor of Bauchi State, Branson made 10 demands one of which was: ‘to ensure that the airport authority cooperates with the airline to allow the safest and best services for their customers.’

"To this end, the airline will be allowed to use the relevant international terminals in Nigerian airports (including Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja) for all the airlines’ operations, including both international and domestic services subject to compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation’s standard and recommended practices on aviation security.

"Unfortunately, Yuguda endorsed the letter but the pertinent question is: Should a letter written by Branson on Virgin Atlantic letter head be binding on our country even if the minister endorsed it?

"Why was the issue not part of the memorandum of undertaking signed by all the parties? Is that the way business transactions are conducted with nations; that a company’s chief executive would, after publicly signing a memorandum of undertaking with the government, now write a personal letter on his company’s letter head and expect any self-respecting nation to take that as a binding contract just because he got somebody to append his signature to it?"

"It is indeed sad that a well- respected global citizen like Branson would now be orchestrating negative media propaganda against Nigeria, which has not breached any agreement with his company.

"The truth is that Virgin has no valid legal claim to operate from the international airport terminals and no amount of propaganda and campaign will work. The management of the airline just has to obey the Federal Government’s order by moving their operations to where others are operating from. It is as simple as that."

Adeniyi said the agreement between the Federal Government and the airline at its inception in 2004 did not stipulate that the airline must operate from the international airport terminals.

He also displayed a copy of the agreement, titled "Memorandum of mutual undertaking on the establishment of a flag carrier between the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Virgin Atlantic Limited/Virgin Airways Limited."

He added that there were security issues in the agreement, which conferred on the government the powers to direct the airline to leave the MMA terminal when it became imperative.

"There is also security issue involved in the whole debate which means that even if Virgin had a valid claim, which as it were, it doesn’t have, it would have still been told to leave the international wing on grounds of security."

According to the President’s spokesman, the dispute with Virgin arose because some public officials had been neglecting the interest of Nigerians when signing agreements on behalf of the Federal Government.

However, a source close to the governor of Bauchi state, Mallam Isa Yuguda decried Adeniyi statement explaining that the former minister was simply being blackmailed.

He said in signing the agreement, Yuguda acted on behalf of the Federal Government to get Virgin to be Nigeria’s national carrier.

He also said in every step the former minister took, he sought and got the approval of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

"The governor (Yuguda) will definitely be sad that he is being maligned for all the sacrifices he made to get Virgin to operate as Nigeria’s national carrier," the source added.

An aviation expert, Mr. Dan Alo who spoke extensively to reporters at the airport, said that the entire concept of Branson’s statement was misleading especially as the business mogul said that the Nigerian government begged him to establish the carrier in the country.

According to Alo, "Branson made fifteen trips to Nigeria in order to secure an agreement for Virgin Nigeria to be established in 2004, even when former president Olusegun Obasanjo visited the UK, he (Branson) stood with us for three hours waiting to see the then president in order to consolidate his deals."

"So for him to state that a country begged him to establish the airline is an insult to Nigerians and to a country like ours."

The relocation started generating controversy when Federal government last December directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to relocate all unserviceable aircraft littering the domestic airport before the end of January 2008, with the aim of decongesting the apron and create space for serviceable aircraft and those that would relocate from the international aircraft to the new terminal.

Virgin Nigeria and Arik Air were airlines asked to relocate on or before the January 31, only for the management of Virgin Nigeria to get a restraining order from a Lagos High Court stopping the Federal Ministry of Transportation (Aviation) and other relevant Agencies including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from forcefully relocating Virgin Nigeria’s domestic operations from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos pending the determination on notice of the order brought before the court.

Granting an exparte order, Justice Ibrahim Auta of the Federal High Court, referred to the Memorandum of Mutual undertaking (MMU) which recognizes that Virgin Nigeria has a legal right to carry out domestic, regional and international flight operations from its hub at Murtala Muhammed International Airport.