Emeto: FAAN Facing Challenge of Funding Airport Infrastructure

Chinedu Eze

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is finding it extremely difficult to fund the rehabilitation of airport facilities due to the deductions of 40 per cent from its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by the federal government.

The former Deputy Director of Finance, FAAN, Philip Emeto who retired recently from the agency, disclosed this at the weekend.

He said that FAAN found it extremely difficult to continue to maintain airport infrastructure and major projects, adding that the paucity of funds is also affecting the pensioners’ gratuities.

“FAAN is finding it increasingly difficult to carry out capital intensive projects like airport infrastructure rehabilitation, upgrading the terminals, providing airfield lighting, acquiring security equipment and many others that are critical to the smooth running of airports in line with the stipulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

“Although FAAN has many sources of aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue, however, whatever it generates, the federal government takes 40 per cent from source through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) introduced by the federal government some years ago,” Emeto explained.

The immediate past Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu recently disclosed that in the year 2022, FAAN remitted about N44 billion of its revenue to the federation account.

Yadudu noted that such deductions con­travened the new FAAN Act 2022, which stipulates that all revenue generated by the agency must be ploughed back into the sector for the purpose of infrastructure development, as it is done in other parts of the world.

It was learnt that the federal govern­ment had in October 2012 increased the compulsory contribution to the federation account by its revenue gen­erating agencies to 40 per­ cent from 25 per cent.