‘Most Airports In Nigeria Are Not Viable’
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has blamed unviable airports scattered nationwide for its poor earnings and revenue shortfall over the years, now in excess of N65 billion.
Management of FAAN, while appearing before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance, in Abuja, reaffirmed that a total of 18 out of the 22 airports under its operations are unviable.
Except the trio of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Rivers State, none of the other 17 airports has sufficient revenue to cover the cost of operations alone.
Investigations showed that additional funding from high-traffic Lagos and Abuja airports’ excess revenue to the tune of N26.1 billion cushioned the operational cost deficits incurred by the unviable airports in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, James Faleke, at the inquiry session demanded the rationale for a total of N65 billion shortfalls in the revenue expected from FAAN cumulatively for the past six years.
Faleke said such revenue shortfalls, as against the Finance Ministry’s expectations, had been responsible for the abysmally low budget performance by the Federal Government.
The lawmaker, who chronicled government’s revenue expectations from FAAN since 2014, observed that the agency had not even been able to meet at least 25 per cent of the projections, which meant that government intentions to provide amenities to the public would also be made impossible due to the default in remittance.
While the government was expecting total remittances of N74.325 billion from FAAN between 2014 and 2019, only a sum of N8.865 billion was remitted.
Faleke reminded the management of the extant laws on financial regulations and revenue management, which he alleged that FAAN had consistently breached with impunity, noting that the public finance revenue management law only allows government businesses to retain 25 per cent of revenue.
In his defence, the Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, said the special protocols in making airports comply with recommended standards, imposed a duty on the management to often make prompt reinvestment into the airports by way of upgrade, maintenance and repairs in making the airports serviceable at all times and at the different seasons.
