Reps uncover N6.9bn un-remitted FG revenue by FAAN

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance has uncovered N6.9 billion un-remitted revenue by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to the Federal Government in 2012.

This is 25 percent of the total sum of N27.8 billion it made as revenue during the year, which it ought to have paid into the nation’s treasury.

According to the chairman of the committee, Jibrin Abdulmumini, who dropped this hint on Monday during an investigative hearing on FAAN and other subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the authority made over N100 billion in 2009, 2010 and 2011, but remitted only N50 million.

“In 2009, you made N50.8 billion; in 2010, N28.4 billion; 2011, N33.1 billion. These are your figures. You gave us these figures. They are not mine, and the total under review was N112.3 billion. This is what you’ve generated. Now, for 2009, 2010 and 2011, all we saw in the record of the accountant general was that you remitted N50 million out of about N100 billion. For 2012, of course, we applied the 25 percent policy. Based on the record you gave for 2012, you generated N27.8 billion. So, for 2009, 2010 and 2011, we will apply the 80 percent surplus, which I’m very sure, you would like that because you will tell us that you haven’t made any surplus. But for 2012, when we do the 25 percent of the N27 billion, what we will get is N6.9 billion. So, this is what we are looking for from you,” he disclosed.

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The managing director of FAAN, George Uriesi, agreed that FAAN has not made a single payment, but hinted that the current management has enjoyed only one fiscal year, having come on board at the end of 2011.

Uriesi went on to explain that FAAN has been basically bankrupt such that it was not able to meet its basic responsibilities.

“The current management of the organisation was appointed at the end of 2011. So, we have served for one fiscal year. The organisation that we saw was technically insolvent. It was unable to meet its basic obligations like salaries and maintaining the airports. The organisation was at the risk of becoming bankrupt if certain drastic actions were not taken by the management to turn around the terrible situation. We were also heavily indebted apart from not being able to meet our obligations, and we couldn’t even ascertain the veracity of claims between N15 billion and N39 billion,” he said.

Uriesi hinted that the current management had gone ahead to reinvest its IGR of nearly two years.

“In fact, the place wouldn’t have survived the last 18 months, if we had not gone ahead to do what we did to save it. We said that rather than to remit to government, government should allow us to reinvest our revenue, which is what we are doing right now to reposition the authority to become robust enough to contribute and begin to add value to government,” he revealed, adding that FAAN only achieved 60 percent of its revenue budget in 2012.

“We had a capital budget of N18 billion, but we were only able to execute N1.5 billion because obviously there was no income,” he said.

TEDDY NWANUNOBI, Abuja