By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has rejected a newspaper report alleging that it wasted N7.58 billion on Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) installed at the Lagos and Abuja airports, describing the report as inaccurate and based on technical misconceptions.
In a rejoinder signed by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Dr Abdullahi Musa, the agency 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, not N7.58 billion.
NAMA said the contract was awarded to Alolis Geo-Science Nigeria Limited, representing Leonardo SPA, formerly Selex, with approvals from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
According to the agency, the N7.58 billion figure cited in the report originated from a 2019 newspaper estimate based on an assumed cost of about US$3 million per runway across seven proposed airport locations.
It stressed that the figure was neither the approved contract sum for the Lagos and Abuja installations nor evidence of expenditure by NAMA.
“The report cited no contract, payment certificate, appropriation, audit finding or other official record establishing that either ₦7.58 billion or ₦30.02 billion was awarded or paid for the Lagos and Abuja installations,” NAMA said.
The agency also disputed the report’s description of the procurement as being limited to an ILS antenna, explaining that the contract covered CAT III-capable ILS/DME ground equipment.
It noted that an ILS comprises both a localizer, which provides lateral guidance, and a glide path, which provides vertical guidance, making the localizer an integral part of the system.
NAMA further explained that the installation of CAT III-capable equipment alone does not make an airport operationally CAT III.
It said full CAT III operations require a combination of 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 areas, low-visibility procedures, as well as CAT III-compliant aircraft and appropriately trained and certified flight crews.
The agency stressed that CAT III operations are a coordinated aviation-system responsibility involving NAMA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), airlines and other stakeholders.
NAMA said the operational history of Lagos Runway 18R also contradicted claims that the system “never worked for one day.”
According to the agency, after installation, pilots reported instances in which the equipment could take aircraft off course during final approach or go off altogether, prompting international airlines to resort to Runway 18L.
It said the associated lighting facilities required for CAT III operations were unavailable, while meteorological inputs from NIMET were also required.
NAMA said it subsequently engaged relevant stakeholders and, following consultation and approval by the supervising ministry, replaced the equipment with CAT II capability pending the provision of complementary facilities needed for CAT III operations.
The agency said the equipment was subsequently calibrated and passed the required checks, while its operational records showed that the Lagos Runway 18R and Abuja Runway 22 facilities were commissioned, certified and promulgated for operation in February 2020 after realignment, recalibration and validation.
NAMA said the original CAT III systems also generated safety concerns, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Air Traffic Controllers, its Safety Management System unit, international airlines and Air Traffic Engineers raising concerns about the equipment’s reliability and its transmission of misleading parameters to aircraft.
It said the equipment was eventually downgraded to CAT II because Nigeria lacked the complete ecosystem required for CAT III operations, including compatible runway lighting, CAT III-compliant aircraft, trained crew and stable power.
“The product was replaced to protect the flying public due to the erratic malfunctioning observed since its installation,” the agency said.
NAMA maintained that the decision did not amount to an admission that the procurement was worthless, but was a safety-management measure in response to operational realities.
The agency also clarified the scope and cost of the second phase of the ILS/DME programme, saying it covered Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport and Katsina Airport, rather than Maiduguri and Sokoto as reported.
It said the second phase initially had an approved sum of ₦1.825 billion, while an augmentation of ₦546.109 million brought the total approved project value to ₦2.371 billion.
NAMA said implementation of the second phase was affected by funding constraints and concerns about repeating the reliability, commissioning, spare-parts and lifecycle-support challenges experienced during the first phase.
The agency also rejected allegations, attributed to anonymous sources, that the ILS project was used to “corner” public funds, saying no audit finding, judicial decision, procurement investigation or competent determination was cited to substantiate the claim.
On the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), NAMA said the report was similarly misleading, noting that the core architecture had been deployed for more than 15 years and that critical hardware had increasingly become obsolete, with replacement components and manufacturer support becoming difficult to obtain.
It said the original equipment manufacturer, Thales, had proposed replacement rather than another limited modernization, adding that 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.
The agency further described the Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) automation project as an inherited contractual obligation, stressing that the present management neither awarded nor initiated the project but had continued to fulfil the inherited commitment.
NAMA, however, said settling the inherited contract should not be interpreted as an indication that its original technical specifications remain adequate for current operational requirements, given advances in digital aeronautical information management, cybersecurity, interoperability and system-wide information management.
It also clarified that AIS automation should not be confused with VHF voice communication infrastructure, as 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 management of public resources, while urging accurate distinction between estimates and actual contract sums, procurement and operational performance, and safety interventions and waste.
NAMA said it would continue to prioritise the safety and efficiency of Nigerian airspace, stressing that downgrading or replacing safety-critical equipment when its operational integrity becomes questionable was a necessary safety measure rather than an abandonment of responsibility.
