An investigation by Premium Times Nigeria, an online newspaper, into the failure of the Osun MKO Abiola Airport concession has found that the award of the contract did not follow state procurement law and indicative of corruption.

Osun state dictates that projects worth over NGN50 million must be tendered, with private investors invited to submit bids by a procuring agency. The agency must evaluate all bids received to select a preferred bidder, and before that can be announced, the selection must be approved by the State Public Procurement Agency (PPA). The successful bidder must then obtain a certificate of compliance from PPA before commencing any construction works.

The newspaper has found that none of these requirements were fulfilled in the awarding of the airport concession to All Works of Life (AWOL) International Limited.

Furthermore, the investigation has found that prior to October 2017 when the contract was awarded, no company of that name ever existed. In the many months preceding the signing of the concession on 26 October, the company had no documented registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). It was registered on 3 October.

The state government issued a 21 days’ notice of termination of contract to AWOL on on 5 March 2018. On 6 April,  the company was sent a letter ordering that it vacate the project site immediately. This was followed by a petition to the police on 20 April. The company were still active on site at the end of June, but had seemingly vacated the site by 1 August.