The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Tuesday disclosed its revenues and expenses for the year 2020, disclosing that it remitted N2 billion into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account between January and September 2020.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Captain Rabiu Yadudu made this known when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation visited the agency in Lagos Tuesday, saying that the management operates in financially austere environment and therefore does not have any operating surplus currently.
Yadudu used the opportunity of the visit to appeal to the committee to expedite action on legislations that would help the agency fast track its operations across the country’s airports, including exempting the agency from paying operating surplus to the government coffers.
“FAAN does not have operating surplus. However, between January and September 2020, the Authority has remitted about N2 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account. The Authority is also mindful of the National Assembly committees on Aviation in ensuring that FAAN is exempted from payment of operating surplus to the federal government. Exception of FAAN will guarantee that the revenue generated by the airports is transparently reinvested wholly in operating and developing airport facilities in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and recommended practices on airport generated revenue”, he said.
According to the FAAN boss, as at September 30, 2020, the organisation generated a total of N30, 084, 235, 670, during the nine months target set, out of which N27, 967, 455, 341 was actual collection.
“From this amount, N17, 610, 732, 427 was from Aeronautical source of revenue, N5,776, 622, 874 from non-aeronautical sources and N5, 242,434,128 recovered from outstanding debts owed. From January to September 2020, the revenue target of Aeronautical source was N38, 988, 439, 354 and actual generation totaled N17, 823, 332,992 out of which N17, 610, 732, 478 is actual collection giving a percentage performance of 98.81 on revenue collected over generated.
“The Authority is shifting focus from Aeronautical sources of revenue to non-aeronautical, FAAN is presently operating at only about 30 percent of its pre-COVID-17 capacity. The Authority has set up a revenue task force to aggressively drive revenue, follow up on outstanding debts owed and explore all possible investment opportunities”, he said.
He called on the lawmakers to give accelerated attention to the agency’s budget saying, “The 2021 IGR budget was submitted to the committee for consideration, we believe that early consideration and passage will enable achieve better in 2021.”
Yadudu explained that Nigeria is expected to be a hub in West/Central Africa sub-region, but this could only be met through more funding for provision of modern infrastructure and technology.
“The aviation agencies will urgently need intervention funds from the federal government to address infrastructural gaps and position the industry for better service delivery and contribution to the national economy, on this note, we seek your assistance in this area and the other aforementioned areas”
The FAAN Managing Director also refuted on going rumour that the agency has been paying half salary, insisting that the workers earn their full salary, contrary to the reports indicating otherwise.
