On October 20, 2026, Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and lawyer and businessman Wale Babalakin signed a remaining settlement that ends a dispute over Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) in Lagos. The Federal Executive Council authorised it, ending the battle that had run for almost 20 years.
MMA2 is the first and solely main Nigerian airport terminal constructed wholly with personal cash. After a fireplace destroyed the outdated home terminal in 2000, Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney Aviation Services took over the challenge as reserve bidder when the first winner defaulted, and it opened in May 2007.
It handles about 75 per cent of Lagos’s home flights and can take 4 million passengers a yr. It was additionally the first terminal in West Africa with common-use check-in programs, self-service kiosks and baggage reconciliation.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) mentioned the concession ran for 12 years, whereas Bi-Courtney mentioned the Yar’Adua authorities authorised 36. Bi-Courtney additionally mentioned the authorities broke an exclusivity clause by retaining the outdated General Aviation Terminal open and diverting flights.
Bi-Courtney sued, gained a N132 billion judgment for misplaced income and noticed the Supreme Court uphold it. The authorities didn’t pay, and Bi-Courtney withheld its concession charges, which stalled a lodge and convention centre.
Under the settlement, Bi-Courtney writes off the N132 billion, provides up claims to the outdated terminal, drops the exclusivity clause on different Lagos home airport developments and resumes paying concession charges instantly.
The authorities cancels 20 years of unpaid concession charges, restores the lodge and convention centre initiatives with a 24-month deadline, approves shifting regional flights to MMA2 and grants additional land to enlarge the plane apron.
Two solutions are lacking from most stories: how a lot in charges was cancelled, and whether or not the settlement fixes the concession at 12 or 36 years, a central level of the battle. The 24-month deadline is the first date to observe; no penalty for lacking it’s reported.
