Reps threaten to hand over NCAA management to EFCC over missing N43bn revenue

The House of Representatives has threatened to hand over the management of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged missing N43 billion revenue generated in 2022.

Rep. James Faleke, Chairman, House Committee on Finance, issued the notice in Abuja on Monday, during the ongoing interactive session with revenue generating agencies.

It was reported that the records provided by Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) revealed that 16 million passengers were transported by local airlines in 2022.

It revealed that three million passengers were transported by international airlines.

Our correspondent gathered that N1.28 trillion was realised from tickets sold to international passengers, out of which N64 billion represented five per cent shared by the five regulatory agencies in 2022.

It was also confirmed that the ADR16 documents, managed by Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), showed that total of 14,572,614 passengers were airlifted by local airlines in 2021.

From the documents submitted to the Committee, NCAA declared N12.7 billion revenue from the share of the gross revenue allotted to regulatory agencies in the industry.

The lawmaker, however, said the amount was below the computed gross revenue share received by NCAA worth N66 billion realised from both revenues accrued from local and international travels for 2022.

The breakdown of NCAA’s revenue share showed that N31 billion was realised from local passengers.

Also, N35.85 billion was realised from international flights for the period under review.

According to the records provided to the Committee, 5 per cent of all tickets sold to local and international airlines were distributed among five regulatory agencies.

Breakdown of the sharing formular showed that 56 per cent of the amount is for NCAA, 22 per cent is for Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Nine per cent is for Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), seven per cent is for Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

Meanwhile, six per cent is for Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

Faleke also alleged that the agency was having outstanding of N8 billion revenue undeclared from revenue accrued from international passengers for 2022.

In his response to various allegations, the NCAA representatives, Captain Ibrahim Dambazau and Abubakar Gachi explained that some local airlines were working for the agency.

They added that the affected airline operators were indebted to NCAA.

Piqued by the undue controversies trailing the amount realised and under-remittance, Faleke requested for NCAA’s audited reports.

He also demanded for comprehensive reports of the NCAA banks operated before transition to Treasury Single Account (TSA) since 2015 to Q1 of 2023.

The committee also requested for the list of all local airlines that were indebted to NCAA.