The House of Representatives has started taking steps to get back more than $7 billion that some international airlines operating in the country since 2023 are said to owe the Federation Account.
Abiodun Faleke, the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, said this today in Abuja at the start of the assessment of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s 2023–2025 income monitoring exercise, according to The PUNCH.
Faleke, who is the representative for Ikeja Federal Constituency in Lagos State, said he was worried about how much money both foreign and domestic airlines owe after hearing from FAAN’s Managing Director, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku.
Kuku told the committee that the agency got back N8.08bn, or 31.25% of the N25.86bn that airline operators owed in 2023. This left a balance of N17.78bn. She didn’t say how much was recovered in 2025.
The committee looked at documents that showed that FAAN made N191.43bn out of an approved revenue target of N292.93bn for the period under review. This was a performance of 65.35 percent and a shortfall of N101.5bn.
The head of FAAN said that both foreign and domestic airlines, including ones that are no longer in business, owe the money. She also noted that the International Air Transport Association is in charge of sending some of the money that foreign airlines make, which she said has caused payments to be late.
Lawmakers, on the other hand, were not happy with the explanations, especially since Nigeria’s public debt is mounting and the country is still borrowing money from other countries to pay for its national budget. They also asked about the agency’s accounting system and pointed out problems with the revenue performance numbers that were given.
Faleke remarked in response, “We know that when President Bola Tinubu took over, the international carriers owed more than $7 billion.” We require a complete list of all your debts from 2023 to 2025. And when the call is made, we want to know who owes money.
“The problem of passenger data is really important. We also want to know how many airlines are really going to Nigeria. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, how many flights did you get? How many people are on board? And I’m sure you have the lists.
He then told the FAAN management team to come back to the committee with a full statement of debt from 2023 to 2025. This statement should include specific lists of all the foreign and domestic airlines that were operating during the time period being looked at.
Airlines that fly in Nigeria have to pay the Federal Government through FAAN and other aviation agencies a number of mandatory fees. These are fees for landing and parking, passenger service, terminal navigation, and other government fees.
But over the years, worries about late payments and carriers getting into debt have not gone away.
Some domestic airlines that have gone out of business are said to have left behind large unpaid debts. Payments from foreign airlines, on the other hand, are often handled through international clearing systems run by global aviation organizations.
The House Committee on Finance has been paying more attention to the issue of unpaid bills since they are keeping a closer eye on revenue.
In the past several months, the committee has started a comprehensive income monitoring project aimed at government agencies. The goal is to increase remittances to the Federation Account and decrease the need for borrowing.
Lawmakers argue that plugging income leaks, like unpaid airport fees, is important for strengthening state finances and funding infrastructure development without going into too much debt, especially because Nigeria is under budgetary challenges and a growing budget deficit.
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