- Keyamo made the disclosure on Thursday in a statement clarifying his ‘N500 million FAAN workers’ DTA’ comment on Channels Television
The Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says the back and forth between Abuja and Lagos by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, officers comes at huge financial cost to the government.
Keyamo disclosed that the Nigerian Government spends N1 billion annually on Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) and air tickets for FAAN officials who shuttle between Abuja and Lagos to perform their duties.
Keyamo made the disclosure on Thursday in a statement clarifying his ‘N500 million FAAN workers’ DTA’ comment on Channels Television.
According to him, in 2023, FAAN workers spent N493,678,620.37 on DTA and N451,058,950.09 for air tickets.
“When I did my Channels TV interview yesterday, I was not briefed about the amount FAAN spent last year alone on DTA (Duty Tour Allowance) for the principal officers who travelled back and forth from Lagos to Abuja almost daily.
“The amount came up to N493,678,620.37. Aside from the air tickets, which I mentioned amounted to N451,058,950.09.
“So, in total, because of insistence on naming Abuja as the headquarters of FAAN (when there are no offices in Abuja to accommodate all the principal officers), FAAN spent close to N1 billion in one year,” he said.
Recall that the minister insisted on going ahead with the Federal Government’s decision to relocate FAAN headquarters to Lagos despite opposition from certain quarters.
On January 19th, 2023, Keyamo announced the relocation of FAAN headquarters from Abuja to Lagos.