Wole Shadare 
…operates at 30% capacity, rakes N30bn as at Sept
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said it remitted N2 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) accounts between January and September 2020. This is coming as the Managing Director of the agency, Capt. Hamisu Yadudu pleaded for urgent intervention fund from the Federal Government to address infrastructural gaps. Addressing the infrastructural gaps, he said, would help to position the industry for better service delivery and contribution to the nation’s economy.
He made the appeal yesterday when the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation led by its chairman, Nnolim Nnaji, inspected some of the facilities of the agency which included work on the resurfacing of the taxi-way and the new terminal building at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos expected to be commissioned February 2021. He further explained that the monies derived from the various revenue sources annually are spent on personnel, overhead and capital cost while FAAN is expected to make remittances to the Federation Account.
Explaining the sharp reduction of the agency’s revenue, Yadudu stated that 2020 started out on a very promising note with very high revenue trajectory, stressing that barely three months into the year, Nigeria as well as the world witnessed one of its worse natural misfortune in recent times. He disclosed that as at September 2020, FAAN generated N30,084,235,670 which according to him is 43.25% of projected N69,555,131,079.
Yadudu said: “FAAN is presently operating at only about 30% of its pre- COVID-19 capacity. While some countries are yet to lift travel bans, others are already entering into the second wave of the pandemic, thereby imposing new levels of restrictions.” Nnaji urged FAAN to focus 70% of its investment on provision of critical aeronautical infrastructure for the aviation industry in order to improve security and safety of the airports.
