As Keyamo Moves to Reposition Aviation Sector…

Gabriel Atumeyi, in this piece, explains how Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, saved the federal government from a multibillion naira judgment debt, restored a dormant revenue stream for the aviation sector.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has again demonstrated the faculty for which he is most reputed: an instinct for identifying and resolving a problem that has confounded successive administrations

On October 20, 2026, Keyamo signed a landmark agreement in Abuja between the Federal Government and Bi-Courtney Limited, drawing to a close a dispute that had festered for the better part of two decades, since the concession of the Murtala Muhammed Airport II terminal was first awarded in 2003 and litigated through the courts for the near entirety of the intervening years.

This followed months of negotiations with the management of Bi-Courtney Limited for what would later be described by its Chairman, Chief Wale Babalakin (SAN), as a good deal that would encourage others to always explore alternative conflict resolution mechanisms with the government.

Every minister who inherited that file faced the same fork in the road. One option was to keep fighting it out in court. While it seems safe and familiar —just brief counsel, approve the money, and wait to see how it all played out. It was also the path that had yielded, over 20 years, nothing but legal bills, adjournments, a judgment debt compounding with every season, and revenue losses accrued by the federal government.

The other path was negotiation. It was riskier and less conspicuous, with no guarantee of success. It meant a minister would have to sit down with a man who had already won in court and convince him to give up part of that victory in return for something he could actually use.

Keyamo chose the second choice. In the end, it was a win-win situation for both parties.

Bi-Courtney relinquished billions of naira of the Supreme Court judgment debt and its interest claim, and in return obtained certainty, restored rights, room to expand its apron and permission to move regional African flights to MMA2 to the extent of capacity. FAAN waived historically accrued concession fees predating the settlement, and in return recovered a revenue stream dormant since 2003.

The General Aviation Terminal was confirmed as Federal Government property, operated by FAAN. The concessionaire resumed payment of concession fees. Government extinguished a nine figure judgment debt, confirmed ownership of a strategic asset and reopened a revenue line that two decades of litigation had kept shut. Neither party walked away with everything. However, both walked away with something worth having.

Keyamo conducted it himself. He did not retain external service like others would have done, did not paper a retainer, did not agree a success fee, and did not consign the brief to a silk with ties to his political circle. He led the negotiation alongside his team at the Ministry, saved the judgment debt, restarted the revenue stream, and demonstrated that government can resolve complex commercial disputes without converting them into a jobs programme for the legal profession.

For a Senior Advocate transplanted into public office, the temptation is to regard a dispute of this magnitude as an opportunity to make money. Which is a familiar tendency in this country in recent years, and it has cost us dearly.

Keyamo again won the hearts of many Nigerians with his loyalty to President Bola Tinubu and his show of patriotism to the country. Such qualities are rare among public officers in today’s Nigeria.

What Babalakin said at the signing gives the resolution its final weight. The man who had won in court, and who had every legal entitlement to enforce his judgment, chose instead to surrender it for certainty, and he explained why. The resolution, he said, would encourage those who feel daunted when they have issues with government that there is a possible resolution.

That sentence deserves to be read twice. It is the concessionaire, not the minister, making the case that predictability of resolution is itself an economic asset, that investors watch how a government behaves when it is owed money, and draw their conclusions. He spoke of completing abandoned buildings that had become an eyesore, of creating well paying jobs, of not disappointing the nation. This is what a settlement sounds like when both parties intend to honour it.

After the settlement was reached,  Babalakin made statements regarding job creation. He explicitly stated that the agreement would “create well paying jobs” and “unlock investment”. He also mentioned that the project would create “thousands of direct and indirect jobs” in fields such as construction, civil engineering, hospitality, facility management, and supply chain logistics.

-Atumeyi writes from Lagos.