The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has rejected a report alleging that it wasted ₦7.58 billion on Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) for Lagos and Abuja airports, saying the figure was neither an approved contract sum nor evidence of expenditure by the agency.
NAMA, in a rejoinder signed by its Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Dr. Abdullahi Musa, said the approved contract for the supply and installation of CAT III-capable ILS and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) for Lagos and Abuja was ₦1.188 billion.
The contract, awarded to Alolis Geo-Science Nigeria Limited, representing Leonardo SPA, formerly Selex, received the requisite approvals of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the agency said.
NAMA said the ₦7.58 billion figure cited in the report originated from a 2019 newspaper estimate which assumed approximately US$3 million per runway and extrapolated the amount across seven proposed airport locations.
According to the agency, the estimate was neither the approved contract sum for the Lagos and Abuja installations nor evidence that the amount was spent by NAMA.
It added that converting the disputed figure to an alleged present-day value of ₦30.02 billion did not make it public expenditure, noting that the report did not produce any contract, payment certificate, appropriation, audit finding or other official record establishing that either amount was awarded or paid for the two installations.
NAMA Explains CAT III Downgrade
NAMA also faulted what it described as a technical misconception in the report, stressing that the procurement involved CAT III-capable ILS/DME ground equipment and not merely an ILS antenna.
The agency explained that an ILS comprises a localiser for lateral guidance and a glide path for vertical guidance, making the localiser an integral part of the system rather than an additional facility that NAMA allegedly failed to provide.
More importantly, NAMA said the installation of CAT III-capable equipment does not, on its own, make an airport operationally CAT III-certified.
According to the agency, CAT III operations require an integrated system involving a calibrated and serviceable ILS, approved instrument approach procedures, appropriate approach and runway lighting, runway visual-range reporting, reliable primary and standby power, protection of ILS critical and sensitive areas, low-visibility procedures, as well as CAT III-compliant aircraft, operators and flight crews.
At FAAN-managed airports, it explained, airfield ground lighting and airport power fall within the responsibilities of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), while NAMA provides navigation and air traffic services infrastructure and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) regulates and approves operations.
NAMA added that meteorological services, aircraft capability and crew competence were also essential components of CAT III operations.
It therefore argued that the absence of complementary aerodrome facilities could not reasonably be presented as evidence that the agency failed to provide the ILS.
Safety Reports Triggered Equipment Replacement
On Lagos Runway 18R, NAMA said the CAT III system developed operational concerns following installation, with pilots reporting instances in which the equipment allegedly took aircraft off course during final approach or went off altogether.
It said international airlines consequently resorted to Runway 18L, while the associated lighting facilities required for CAT III operations were unavailable.
NAMA added that the National Meteorological Agency (NiMet) was also expected to provide essential meteorological inputs.
According to the agency, it subsequently engaged relevant stakeholders and, following consultation and approval by the supervising ministry, replaced the equipment with CAT II capability pending provision of the complementary facilities required for CAT III operations.
The system was subsequently calibrated and passed the requisite checks, it said.
NAMA further disclosed that the problems with the CAT III system began from installation and persisted until the International Air Transport Association (IATA) raised concerns about its safety and tendency to transmit misleading parameters to aircraft.
The agency said it also received several operational reports from air traffic controllers, its Safety Management System unit, international airlines and air traffic engineers, all pointing to the need for intervention because the equipment was increasingly becoming a safety concern.
“The truth of the matter is that we never had CAT III in Nigeria; it was merely a name,” NAMA stated, explaining that the equipment was downgraded to CAT II because other complementary facilities were not CAT III-compliant.
It listed runway lighting, CAT III-compliant aircraft, trained CAT III crews and stable power among the requirements that were lacking.
NAMA said the Abuja facility was similarly operating at CAT II level rather than CAT III, adding that the equipment was replaced to protect the flying public because of erratic malfunctions observed since its installation.
The agency said operational records of the facility before its removal were documented.
Commissioning Record Counters ‘Never Worked’ Claim
NAMA also disputed the claim that the systems “never worked for one day”, saying its operational records showed that the Lagos Runway 18R and Abuja Runway 22 facilities were subsequently commissioned, certified and promulgated for operation in February 2020 following realignment, recalibration and validation.
However, the agency acknowledged that subsequent integrity and serviceability problems occurred, particularly in Lagos, where recurrent problems eventually made continued reliance on the installation unacceptable.
It also cited fleet-commonality, training, spare-parts and lifecycle-support concerns associated with the Selex platform, noting that NAMA’s maintenance environment had greater familiarity with Thales and Indra systems.
“A safety-critical navigational aid that cannot consistently demonstrate the required integrity must be downgraded, withdrawn or replaced. That is safety management, not waste”, the agency said.
Second ILS Phase Cost ₦2.37bn
NAMA also clarified the scope and cost of the second phase of the ILS programme, saying it covered Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport and Katsina Airport, rather than Maiduguri and Sokoto as reported.
The agency said the initial approved sum was ₦1.825 billion, while an augmentation of ₦546.109 million brought the total approved project value to ₦2.371 billion.
Implementation, it explained, was affected by funding constraints and concerns about replicating the reliability, commissioning, spares and lifecycle-support challenges experienced during the first phase.
NAMA equally rejected allegations, attributed to anonymous sources, that the project was a conduit for “cornering” public funds.
It said no audit finding, judicial decision, procurement investigation or competent determination had been cited to establish such wrongdoing.
NAMA Defends TRACON, AIS Projects
The agency also challenged the report’s treatment of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), saying its core architecture had been deployed for more than 15 years and now had increasingly obsolete critical hardware.
According to NAMA, replacement components and manufacturer support had become difficult to obtain, prompting the original equipment manufacturer, Thales, to propose replacement rather than another limited modernisation.
The agency said Nigeria now required a resilient surveillance architecture integrating primary and secondary radar with technologies such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and wide-area multilateration, alongside redundancy, national-security coordination and capacity for future expansion.
On the Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) automation project, NAMA said it was an inherited contractual obligation which the present management neither awarded nor initiated but had continued to discharge, with payment now close to full settlement.
It, however, noted that settling an inherited contract did not necessarily mean that its original technical specification remained adequate for current operational requirements.
NAMA said international requirements in digital aeronautical information management, structured data exchange, cybersecurity, interoperability and system-wide information management had evolved considerably since the project commenced.
It also clarified that AIS automation should not be confused with VHF voice communication infrastructure, explaining that AIS deals with the collection, validation, management and distribution of aeronautical data and publications, while pilot-controller VHF communications constitute a separate communications service.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, accountability and responsible stewardship of public resources, but urged that estimates be distinguished from actual contract sums, procurement from operational performance, and safety interventions from waste.
NAMA said its overriding priority remained the safety and efficiency of Nigerian airspace, stressing that it would not compromise the flying public merely to preserve an investment whose operational integrity had become questionable.
It maintained that downgrading or replacing safety-critical equipment when its integrity becomes doubtful is not an abandonment of responsibility but an essential part of responsible airspace management.