The House of Representatives on Monday threatened to hand over the management team of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged missing N43 billion in revenue generated in 2022.
Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, issued the notice in Abuja during the ongoing interactive session with revenue-generating agencies.
Records provided by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) revealed that a total of 16 million passengers were airlifted by local airlines, while 3 million passengers were airlifted by international airlines, respectively.
It was also gathered that the sum of N1.28 trillion was realised from tickets sold to international passengers, out of which N64 billion represents 5 per cent shared by the five regulatory agencies.
The agency also confirmed that the ADR16 documents managed by NAMA showed that a total of 14,572,614 passengers were airlifted by local airlines in 2021, while 2,314,000 passengers were airlifted by international airlines in the same year.
In the documents submitted to the Committee, the NCAA declared the sum of N12.7 billion in revenue from the share of the gross revenue allotted to regulatory agencies in the industry.
However, the amount is below the computed gross revenue share received by the NCAA, worth N66 billion, realised from both revenues accrued from local and international travel in 2022.
A breakdown of the NCAA revenue share showed that the sum of N31 billion was realised by local passengers, while the sum of N35.85 billion was realised by international flights for the period under review.
According to the records provided to the Committee, 5 per cent of all tickets sold to travellers who travel with local airlines and international airlines are distributed among five regulatory agencies.
The breakdown of the sharing form showed that 56 per cent of the amount is for the NCAA, 22 per cent is for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), 9 per cent is for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), 7 per cent is for the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and 6 per cent is for the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), respectively.
Hon. Faleke also alleged that the agency has an outstanding N8 billion in revenue undeclared from revenue accrued from international passengers for 2022.
In their response to various allegations, the NCAA representatives, Captain Ibrahim Dambazau and Abubakar Gachi, explained that some local airlines are working with the agency, adding that the affected airline operators are highly indebted to the NCAA.
They, however, noted that all the international airlines are up-to-date.
After the Committee resolved to put the NCAA team on oath, they disclosed that the NCAA had signed a direct debit arrangement with all local airlines through which the agency could deduct its funds directly from their respective banks.
While affirming that agreements were signed by the bankers with the local airlines, the NCAA team lamented that the affected local airlines are fond of ensuring that there is money in their respective bank accounts.
While observing that the NCAA accounting officer has directly indicted the agency’s management team, he queried the rationale behind the airline’s refusal to pay the existing levies after collecting money from air tickets from passengers before boarding.
Worried by the undue controversies trailing the amount realised and under-remittance, Hon. Faleke requested NCAA audited reports as well as comprehensive reports of the NCAA banks operated before the transition to Treasury Single Account (TSA) from 2015 to Q1 of 2023.
The committee also requested a list of all local airlines that are indebted to the NCAA.
To this end, the Committee directed the management teams of all the affected regulatory agencies to appear before it, with the view of explaining their roles in the scandal.
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