FAAN–Bi-Courtney Truce: Turning Peace into Profit

After nearly two decades of litigation and stalled investment, the FAAN–Bi-Courtney truce promises revenue, jobs and airport expansion. Festus Akanbi examines whether this hard-won peace can deliver lasting gains

For years, the unfinished buildings beside Lagos airport offered travellers a bleak introduction to Nigeria’s infrastructure ambitions: concrete standing still while lawyers kept moving. The settlement between the federal government and Bi-Courtney now offers a route out of that paralysis, with implications for public revenue, private investment, regional aviation, and the airport’s commercial future.

Signed in Abuja on October 20, following the Federal Executive Council approval on April 30, 2026, the agreement addresses disputes involving the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Bi-Courtney and Stabilini Visinoni. Its importance lies in turning a relationship dominated by competing claims into one with renewed payment obligations and development opportunities.

The immediate change concerns concession revenue. Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said FAAN would begin receiving payments from MMA2 after years of disagreement.

“Today, FAAN begins to earn its money from MMA2,” he declared.

The relevant distinction is concession fees: the announcement does not establish that every category of airport revenue had previously been absent.

Regular concession receipts would give FAAN a more predictable income stream from an operating asset. However, the publicly reported terms do not disclose the expected annual payment, the applicable calculation, or evidence of receipts already collected. The financial gain therefore remains unquantified, even though the contractual route to collection has been reopened.

The settlement also carries substantial implications for government liabilities. Announcing the April agreement, Keyamo said Bi-Courtney had accepted a write-off of a N132 billion judgement debt and associated interest. That removes a major disputed financial burden from the relationship, although debt forgiveness is different from money entering the treasury.

Government has surrendered claims too. The October signing provides for the release of accumulated concession fees and specified ancillary payments arising before execution. Without a published valuation of those concessions, the N132 billion headline cannot reasonably be presented as the government’s net financial benefit. The bargain exchanges historical entitlements for a potentially more productive commercial relationship.

That exchange addresses the dispute’s central contradiction: courtroom victories did not produce completed buildings or a settled investment environment. Bi-Courtney possessed favourable legal outcomes, yet its associated hotel and conference centre remained unfinished.

FAAN retained its public responsibilities while disagreements obstructed the concession relationship. Neither position translated into the full development originally envisaged.

The concession dates to April 24, 2003, with operations commencing on May 7, 2007. Disagreements subsequently encompassed its duration, financial obligations, and the General Aviation Terminal, also known as MMA1. Under the settlement, GAT remains federal property operated by FAAN, establishing a clearer division of operational responsibilities.

Bi-Courtney, meanwhile, receives scope to expand its apron and accommodate regional African flights at MMA2, subject to capacity and agreed conditions. This could provide an additional source of traffic and commercial income, rather than compensation solely through cash. It also gives both parties a practical reason to support the terminal’s development.

Regional operations could strengthen connections between domestic services and neighbouring African markets, while increasing demand for ground handling, catering, retail and passenger services. Those gains depend on airlines deploying aircraft, offering commercially viable routes, and making the necessary operational arrangements. Permission to accommodate regional flights cannot itself guarantee new schedules, additional passengers or cheaper tickets.

The hospitality projects offer another channel through which the settlement could become economically visible. Restored rights and separate leases cover the four-star hotel and conference centre. Their completion could serve passengers, airline crews and business visitors, while creating demand for construction services, furnishings, maintenance, food supplies and permanent hospitality staff.

Bi-Courtney chairman, Wale Babalakin, has linked the agreement to employment and improvements in the airport environment.

“It is going to unleash several quality jobs into the system immediately,” he said.

That promise is commercially plausible, but the announcement did not include a verified employment total or wage schedule. Recruitment and completed facilities will provide firmer evidence than projections.

The wider investment implications may prove equally significant. An airport concession requires capital committed over many years; prolonged uncertainty over contractual rights makes it harder to retain lenders and operating partners. A negotiated framework can improve the prospects of financing expansion because investors can assess defined obligations more readily than unresolved litigation.

For prospective financiers, the question extends beyond whether today’s principals can cooperate. It concerns whether their successors will honour the same obligations, resolve disagreements promptly and maintain the administrative consistency needed to support investments whose returns accumulate over many years.

Aviation expert Samuel Caulcrick captured that qualified optimism when he told a newspaper the resolution appeared promising to prospective investors, while stressing that stakeholders still awaited details. His assessment identifies the next credibility test: investors need the agreement’s commercial substance, including payment arrangements and implementation commitments, to evaluate what the settlement actually delivers.

Earlier reporting also linked the compromise to removing contractual obstacles affecting the proposed Lekki airport. Any such clarification could widen Lagos’s development options. Nevertheless, resolving an exclusivity dispute does not finance another airport or establish its commercial viability. The immediate achievement is reduced contractual obstruction; delivery of additional infrastructure remains a separate undertaking.

For passengers, the benefits will be judged through operations: functioning facilities, reliable services and convenient connections. A hotel becoming usable, an apron gaining capacity or a regional service commencing would give the agreement tangible meaning. There is currently no demonstrated basis to assume that the settlement alone will reduce airfares, which reflect several other operating costs.

Implementation therefore carries the decisive weight. Government retains oversight concerning security, access, emergencies and maintenance standards, while the parties must administer concession payments and development obligations. Clear reporting on receipts, construction milestones and operational approvals would make progress measurable and help prevent familiar disagreements from returning under new wording.

The agreement has changed the starting point. Historical claims have been exchanged for continuing obligations, FAAN has a renewed basis for collecting concession fees, and Bi-Courtney has opportunities to complete stalled assets and broaden operations. Its lasting value will emerge as those provisions generate revenue, investment, and services travellers can use. After nearly two decades of confrontation, the airport’s next chapter will be measured in completed work.