The Ogun State Government, Federal Ministry of Aviation, and other stakeholders will meet this week to fine-tune the process of concession of the Gateway Agro-Cargo International Airport to an investor.

The airport, located in the Iperu-Ilishan axis of the state, is nearing completion with aircraft already landing at the location.

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, speaking on a Channels television programme on Sunday evening, disclosed that efforts by the state government to recoup every penny expended on the airport would begin with the take-off of the concession agreement.

Prince Abiodun said that because of the world-class facilities available at the airport, the state government received many concession offers.

He said: “Returns on airport investments are not seen overnight. We have been receiving unsolicited offers from others who are desirous of consessioning this airport and paying us back everything the airport costs us.

“So, for us, our money has worked. We invested in building this airport to de-risk it because we realised that if we had gone ahead and advertised for others to come and build this airport for us, we probably would only have started building it at the end of our second term. So, we decided to bite the bullet. We invested. We have built that airport.

“Because of the standard that we have adhered to– we’ve built a world-class airport here. We have now received unsolicited offers to concession the airport from us, and I am happy to say that we have accepted one of those offers. By the grace of God, on Tuesday, we will be signing that concession. You will see the Minister of Aviation along with the heads of aviation parastatals signing with us to a third party who currently manages three other airports in Africa.

“And this third party would be paying the entire amount the airport has cost us. So, it would now be his responsibility to run this airport in line with the world’s best practices.