Nation
Suspend 25% Contribution To Federation Account, FAAN Begs FG
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has called for the stoppage of its 25 per cent revenue contribution to the Federation Account.
FAAN said this would help it to address some infrastructure gaps.
The General Manager, FAAN, Mr Rabiu Yadudu, made the appeal during an oversight visit of the Senate Committee on Aviation at the Lagos Airport, yesterday.
Yadudu decried accumulated airlines debt to aviation agencies, particularly FAAN, adding that a particular airline owed N13billion for services rendered and unpaid.
Yadudu noted that one way to ensure development in the industry was to allow revenue generated by agencies in the sector to be ploughed back.
The managing director said that the practice was obtainable across the globe and was also part of the international standard and recommended practice.
“The industry still has an infrastructure gap to stabilise; therefore, government’s support in stabilising the industry is needed.
“This can be achieved by suspending the contributions to the Federation Account in compliance with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) Doc 9562.
“This document on airport generation provides that revenue generated by the airport should be transparently re-invested wholly in operating and developing airport facilities,” he said.
Yadudu said revenue generation was low as only two airports – the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) mainly sustained other airports expenditures.
He also highlighted the global economic challenge, both national and international, which had affected airline operators, causing them to reduce fleet, frequencies or withdraw operations, thus affecting the agency’s revenue generation.
Yadudu lamented the rising operating and maintenance cost of the new terminals and existing ones due to inflation and the devaluation of the naira.
However, the managing director said the agency was tweaking its plans to make other airports that were not breaking even to perform.
He also said the airport management had embarked on aggressive debt recovery, while introducing a Pay As You Go system, adding that it had also commenced a cashless policy among other loophole blockage areas.
Responding, the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, said the idea was commendable, noting that the issue was constitutional and would require a constitutional review to achieve.
Adeyemi stressed the need for rehabilitation of airports.
“There are quite a lot of airports in the country that we need to start looking at budget inclusion for next year, not this year.
“We will not wait till there is a mishap before we start looking at fixing the runways which are in bad shape, a number of them since they were constructed have not been touched, and at times when you land in some of these airports, you don’t need to be a pilot to know that the plane will not maintain a balance,” he said.
Rivers state Deputy Governor Professor Ngozi Nma Odu has commended “The Port Harcourt City One Love,”a Port Harcourt based humanitarian orgnisation For it’s commitment towards alleviating the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable in the society.
Professor Ngozi Nma Odu said this while speaking at this year’s edition of “operation feed the needy” a yearly outreach program of “The Port Harcourt City One Love ” in Port Harcourt.
The Deputy Governor said by feeding more than sixty thousands hungry people within the past six years, the Port Harcourt City One Love Movement has distinguished itself as a club that cares for the less privilege in the society.
She commended the , organization for listing eleven thousand persons to be fed in the current exercise.
Meanwhile The Port Harcourt City One Love has planned a permanent solution to the problem of feeding the poor in the state.
The leader of the group Mr Idaere Gogo Ogan who said this in an interview with newsmen during the distribution of food items to the poor and vulnerables in Port Harcourt said the organization is planning a permanent food kitchen where poor and vulnerable persons can work in anytime and get fed.
Idaere Gogo Ogan said more than sixty thousands poor and vulnerable persons across Port Harcourt City and environs have been fed since the inception of “The operation feed the needy” program six years ago,adding that so far sixty thousands poor and vulnerable persons have beneffited.
He described the group as a platform to promote friendship, brotherhood, community development empathy and feeding the less privilege and hungry people
“That’s what we are doing today here,so we started the exercise six years ago”.he said.
Ogan said the effort was a private sector driven initiative but added “it also involves people in Government because the platform does not recognize any division,we bring everybody together in unity , friendship and brotherhood”he said.
He said the effort will go along way in alleviating hunger especially following the prevailing hunger in the country.
According to him “you know the country is very tough, people are hungry people are starving, there is a whole lot of economic hardship,so for us, this is just our own way of reaching out, our own social contribution to what is very difficult”he said.
Over eleven thousand persons were fed in the just concluded exercise.
Areas of coverage include, Isaac Boro park, Port Harcourt prison/Macoba, Borokiri/Enugu waterside Bundu areas Waterlines and others.
Some of the beneficiaries including an 80 years old widow commended the movement for the annual programm and urged other organizations to emulate them
John Bibor,/Esuuk Oyet/Suotor Memoye /Jeremiah Hannah
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