Airport tolls: Under outdated regulations, Nigeria wasted billions –Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, disclosed that the Federal Government lost 82% of the N10 billion in money that airport tollgates were supposed to generate under previous regulations.

Keyamo disclosed this information to reporters from the State House on Tuesday, following a two-day gathering of the Federal Executive Council.

The minister bemoaned the fact that the ministry had amassed 82% of the negative from the free e-tags it had printed, pointing out that 82% of the e-tags were provided to VIPs at no cost.

He stated, “Let me give you the shocking statistics. The negative figure that we get at the end of the day from the complimentary e-tags is 82 per cent, in the negative.

“In other words, where we are supposed to have a 100 per cent contract on the e-costs from these e-tags that we print, it is only 18 per cent that we now end up selling. That is how bad it is. 18 per cent and 82 per cent of these e-tags are given out free of charge to VIPs. So, imagine the loss in my sector, and I ask myself,’Which other sector will I go to that they give me anything free?’

“Is it because I’m a VIP that you say that in FCT, I should not pay land charges that you waive it for me? I pay for that sector. I pay for power. Yes, I pay for everything. So, why would anybody now come to my own sector and want to get free passage? Not possible. That is how bad it is.”

He continued by saying that giving VIPs free e-tags has previously resulted in the loss of billions of naira.

“So this has led in the past to loss of billions of naira, not millions, annually. Yet, our airport infrastructure, you know, is decaying. I am helpless. I’m looking for concessionaires. I’m looking for help with decaying infrastructure.

“They will be the first to cry out, these same VIPs – ‘why are the toilets like this? Why are your toilets smelling? Why can’t you do this?’ They are the same people, but they don’t pay for the services. So, if we want improved infrastructure at the airport, we must pay for services,” he said.

The minister bemoaned the fact that the ministry only earns roughly N100 million each month from a specific airport gate as a result of the exemption policy, as opposed to approximately N260 million.

“I’ll give you another example. In one of the access gates, based on the count of the barrier going up and down, we are supposed to be making N250m or 260 million from that gate every month. That gate, because of exemptions, the return to us is less than N100 million every month,” he added.

In an attempt to reverse the deficit, the FEC determined that the nation’s top officials, including the president and vice president, would begin covering access fees or the e-tag at all 24 federal airports.

The president, vice president, and a few other government leaders were excused from paying entry fees at the airport gates prior to this change.