Abuja — 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.

The BPE Director General, Mr. Alex Okoh, who spoke at the agreement-signing ceremony in Abuja, noted that the event marked the commencement of the work Parcels A and B which are not designated for concession.

He added that the standardisation of lease agreements would ultimately increase the earnings of the LITFC and the federal government in particular.

In a statement issued by its Head, Public Communications, Amina Othman Tukur, the BPE quoted Okoh as saying that in line with the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act (1999), the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved the concessioning of LITFC to Aulic Nigeria Limited in 2007.

However, the concession agreement, he added, was terminated by the NCP in 2017 due to the failure of Aulic Nig. Ltd to meet covenants listed in the concession agreement and the BPE was directed to immediately recommence the process of re-concessioning of the Complex.

Okoh stressed 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 Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) with the call for Expression of Interest (EOIs) on Monday, June 20, 2022.

But Okoh added that in the process of carrying out the concessioning plan, it was discovered that 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.