Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja and Chinelo Obogo
The House of Representatives Committee, yesterday, said it has uncovered over N65billion unremitted revenue by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) between 2014 to 2019.
This is coming on the heels of its losing N5.5 million daily revenue over unresolved disagreement with its concessionaire.
The chairman, House Committee on Finance, Abiodun Faleke, disclosed the under-remittance yesterday, when FAAN officials appeared before the committee.
Faleke stated that available records indicated that though FAAN ought to have remitted N74 billion to the federation account in the period under review, it only remitted N9 billion.
The lawmaker noted that the House was committed to ensuring that revenue generating agencies of government make accurate remittances to the federation account as at when due.
“Fom documents available to this committee by FAAN, we discovered that FAAN was supposed to have remitted the sum of N9.48 billion but made remittance of N5 billion for the year 2014 and similarly, in 2015, same FAAN under paid government over N7 billion as it paid N1.145 billion as reflected in the federation account. But in your books before us, you stated that you paid N2.151 billion. All these would need reconciliation if you only make your receipts available to this committee in the next three weeks.
“Meanwhile, in 2016 the actual amount due to federal government was supposed to be N11.6 billion, but you FAAN paid N1.56 billion in the federation account. Also in 2017 the actual amount due to federal government was N13.19 billion, but you under paid the sum of N1.51billion.
“In 2018 you remitted N1.77 billion instead of N14 billion and in the year 2019 actual amount due to federal government was N15.49 billion but you ended up paying N1.35 billion.
“In all, the total sum paid is N9.046 instead of N74.36 billion and we want you to give us the reason for this total disregard of the constitutional provision”, Faleke stated.
However, the Managing Director of FAAN, Rabiu Hamisau Yadudu said the agency was doing its best to live up the expectation as a regulatory agency, especially managing available resources.
Meanwhile, FAAN is said to be losing about N5.5 million daily revenue over unresolved disagreement with its concessionaire.
To prevent a breakdown of law and order, officers of the Police and the Airforce are currently stationed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Access Gate, Lagos, to prevent the crisis between the aviation unions and the toll gate concessionaire from escalating.
The Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employee (NUATE) and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) had on Monday, dislodged Integrated intelligence Imaging (I-Cube) West Africa (The Airport toll gate concessionaire) from further toll collection following the expiration of a concession agreement between it and FAAN which terminated in February 2019.