{"id":27631,"date":"2026-02-07T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T18:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=27631"},"modified":"2026-02-08T09:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T08:03:22","slug":"was-enugu-airport-sold-as-alleged-by-social-media-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/was-enugu-airport-sold-as-alleged-by-social-media-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Was Enugu airport sold as alleged by social media users?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim<\/strong>: Social media users claimed<\/a> the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, has been allegedly sold by the government to a private enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict<\/strong>: Misleading! The Federal Government of Nigeria concessioned the airport to Aero Alliance under a 30-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP), while retaining ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Feb 6, 2026, videos<\/a> circulated on social media showing passengers stranded at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to news reports<\/a>, a coalition of aviation workers at the airport had staged a protest that morning, shutting down flight operations to protest against the government\u2019s concession of the airport to private individuals without adequate consultation with relevant stakeholders.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some hours later, however, media reports noted<\/a> that the airport had resumed operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the saga, a claim<\/a> surfaced on social media that the airport had been sold to private individuals, which prompted the protest earlier that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Facebook pages that shared<\/a> the claim noted that the new \u2018owners\u2019 had sealed the airport, citing the poor condition of the exit area, which was deemed unsafe for operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other users who commented on the posts asked for further information as to who bought the airport and the terms of agreement the supposed new owners had with airport workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anita Musalema wrote, \u201cWe said it last year that with APC, Nigerians will wake up one morning to see Nigeria on the stock exchange market sold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VC Eze quipped, \u201cWho sold the airport to whom?\u201d while Adaora Okonkwo asked, \u201cDoes it mean that an individual owns the airport? I thought it was government property.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA also observed that some posts tagged the airport as owned by the Enugu state government, further piquing users’ curiosity about why the state government sold the airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the implications of the viral claim on the public, DUBAWA probed its veracity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA\u2019s keyword search returned news reports from Jan 23, 2026 when the Federal government of Nigeria signed the concession agreement for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had explained that the Federal Executive Council had on July 31, 2025, approved the proposal to concession the Enugu Airport, subject to contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further noted that subsequent negotiations and consultations by the ministry, FAAN, and Aero Alliance had centralized safeguarding of workers\u2019 welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, the Federal Government initiated the airport concession process to attract foreign investment and technical partnerships in the aviation infrastructure sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, four major international<\/a> airports in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and Port Harcourt were to be concessioned, and some consortiums<\/a> had won the bids to manage the airports, but this process could not be taken further due to pushback<\/a> from the aviation unions.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, by 2024, Keyamo announced<\/a> plans to reintroduce airport concessions, including the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a concession agreement?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Investopedia<\/a>, concession agreements allow companies to operate businesses on government or third-party properties under specific terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission further establishes<\/a> that a Public-Private Partnership concession contract is one that makes the private-sector concessionaire responsible for the full delivery of the specified infrastructure services, including operation, maintenance, collection, management, and construction and rehabilitation of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that while the private sector is responsible for all capital investments, the assets are owned by the public sector even during the concession period, and the public sector (government) is responsible for establishing performance standards and ensuring that the concessionaire meets them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The claim that the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu has been sold is misleading! The government had only approved the concession of the airport to a private entity, and ownership still lies with the government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: Social media users claimed the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, has been allegedly sold by the government to a private enterprise. Verdict: Misleading! The Federal Government of Nigeria concessioned the airport to Aero Alliance under a 30-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP), while retaining ownership. Full Text On Feb 6, 2026, videos circulated on social media showing passengers stranded at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.\u00a0 According to news reports, a coalition of aviation workers at the airport had staged a protest that morning, shutting down flight operations to protest against the government\u2019s concession of the airport to private individuals without adequate consultation with relevant stakeholders.\u00a0 Some hours later, however, media reports noted that the airport had resumed operations.  Amid the saga, a claim surfaced on social media that the airport had been sold to private individuals, which prompted the protest earlier that day.\u00a0 The Facebook pages that shared the claim noted that the new \u2018owners\u2019 had sealed the airport, citing the poor condition of the exit area, which was deemed unsafe for operations.\u00a0 Other users who commented on the posts asked for further information as to who bought the airport and the terms of agreement the supposed new owners had with airport workers.  Anita Musalema wrote, \u201cWe said it last year that with APC, Nigerians will wake up one morning to see Nigeria on the stock exchange market sold.\u201d VC Eze quipped, \u201cWho sold the airport to whom?\u201d while Adaora Okonkwo asked, \u201cDoes it mean that an individual owns the airport? I thought it was government property.\u201d DUBAWA also observed that some posts tagged the airport as owned by the Enugu state government, further piquing users’ curiosity about why the state government sold the airport.  Considering the implications of the viral claim on the public, DUBAWA probed its veracity. Verification  DUBAWA\u2019s keyword search returned news reports from Jan 23, 2026 when the Federal government of Nigeria signed the concession agreement for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had explained that the Federal Executive Council had on July 31, 2025, approved the proposal to concession the Enugu Airport, subject to contract.  He further noted that subsequent negotiations and consultations by the ministry, FAAN, and Aero Alliance had centralized safeguarding of workers\u2019 welfare. In 2016, the Federal Government initiated the airport concession process to attract foreign investment and technical partnerships in the aviation infrastructure sector. At the time, four major international airports in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and Port Harcourt were to be concessioned, and some consortiums had won the bids to manage the airports, but this process could not be taken further due to pushback from the aviation unions.\u00a0 However, by 2024, Keyamo announced plans to reintroduce airport concessions, including the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.  What is a concession agreement? According to Investopedia, concession agreements allow companies to operate businesses on government or third-party properties under specific terms. The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission further establishes that a Public-Private Partnership concession contract is one that makes the private-sector concessionaire responsible for the full delivery of the specified infrastructure services, including operation, maintenance, collection, management, and construction and rehabilitation of the system. It added that while the private sector is responsible for all capital investments, the assets are owned by the public sector even during the concession period, and the public sector (government) is responsible for establishing performance standards and ensuring that the concessionaire meets them.  Conclusion  The claim that the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu has been sold is misleading! The government had only approved the concession of the airport to a private entity, and ownership still lies with the government. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[123,120,437,1571,4,3812,3815],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[1920],"class_list":["post-27631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mainstream","category-economy","category-facebook-checks","category-fact-check","category-featured","category-headline","category-homepage"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-7bF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1920,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"elizabeth-ogunbamowo","display_name":"Elizabeth Ogunbamowo","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7043a07f4ff292637cb75d13c8340fa9afb2ec87eceec4eedd980077c8bfd304?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-4.jpeg?fit=826%2C371&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27633,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27631\/revisions\/27633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27631"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=27631"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=27631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}