The House of Representatives has initiated moves aimed at recovering about $7bn allegedly owed to the Federal Government by some foreign airlines operating in the country.
According to the Reps committee chairman on Finance, Abiodun Faleke, the amount had accumulated since 2023.
Faleke made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja during a review of the 2023–2025 revenue monitoring exercise of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The committee chairman expressed further revealed that some domestic airlines are also indebted to the Federal Government.
The move followed a presentation by the Managing Director of FAAN, Olubunmi Kuku when she appeared before the committee.
Mrs Kuku told the committee that the agency was able to recover only N8.8 billion from the N25.86bn owed by airlines, leaving an outstanding balance of N17.7 billion.
The agency’s presentation to the committee showed that FAAN generated N191.4 billion from a revenue target of N292.9 billion, leaving a shortfall of N101.5 billion.
The Managing Director said the huge debts were owed by both foreign and domestic airlines, including ones that have gone out of operations.
She disclosed that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the body responsible for remitting certain revenues accruing from foreign airlines.
But IATA, she said had not been efficient in its responsibilities, causing delays in recovery.
The Reps committee members were however not impressed with the Managing Director’s explanations, in view of the country’s huge public debt profile, arising from foreign loans.
The lawmakers also faulted the agency’s accounting system and picked holes in its revenue performance figures as presented by the Managing Director.
“We are aware that when President Bola Tinubu took over, there was over $7bn owed in the international carriers. So, we want a full record of all your debts in 2023, 2024, and 2025. And when the call is made, we want to know those who are owing.
“The issue of passenger data is critical. Apart from this, we want to know how many airlines are actually coming to Nigeria. How many flights did you receive in 2023, 2024, and 2025. How many passengers. And I am sure you have the manifests,” Faleke said.
The chairman subsequently directed the FAAN management team to reappear before the committee with a comprehensive statement of indebtedness from 2023 to 2025.
He ordered that the documents must include detailed manifests of foreign and domestic airlines operating within the period under review, clearly indicating the debtor airlines.
The debts were incurred through default in landing and parking fees, passenger service charges, terminal navigation charges and other regulatory levies.
It was revealed that some domestic airlines that have since packed failed to settle huge financial obligations to FAAN.
On the other hand, global aviation agencies charged with collecting the levies from foreign airlines failed to do so most of the time.
