By Jemimah Wellington, JKNMedia Reporter
A SUM of N10 billion in revenue has been lost from the airport tollgates under previous administrations, according to the Federal Government.
This revelation was made by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, during a briefing with State House correspondents after a two-day Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Tuesday.
Keyamo disclosed that the ministry has suffered significant financial losses primarily due to the issuance of complimentary e-tags, which accounted for 82 percent of all printed e-tags.
These tags were frequently distributed free to VIPs, significantly reducing the potential revenue from airport tollgates.
According to Keyamo, the ministry currently earns about N100 million monthly from a specific airport gate.
However, it could be generating around N260 million without the exemptions. He explained that the practice of issuing free e-tags to VIPs has cost the ministry billions of naira over the years.
“The negative impact from complimentary e-tags is significant,” Keyamo stated. “We only sell 18 percent of these e-tags, while 82 percent are given away for free to VIPs.
This practice has led to annual losses in the billions, and yet our airport infrastructure continues to deteriorate. These same VIPs who enjoy free passage often criticize the poor state of our facilities.”
Keyamo emphasized that improving infrastructure requires proper funding, which can only be achieved if everyone pays for the services they use.
He pointed out that one airport gate, which should generate N250 million to N260 million monthly, returns less than N100 million due to the exemptions.
In response to these losses, the FEC has decided that the president, vice president, and other top government officials will start paying access fees or e-tag charges at all 24 federal airports across the country. Previously, these top officials were exempt from such fees.
