President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima will now henceforth pay the required fees at tollgates whenever they use the nation’s airports.
This came as the the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting he presided over at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday approved that there should be no more exemption granted to users of the airports from paying tollgate fees.
The approval was made following a memorandum presented to the council by the minister of aviation, Festus Keyamo, who argued that the government was losing over 82% of the revenue it should have earned from the e-tags that provide access to the tollgates.
He explained that the memoranda had initially prescribed an exemption for only the president and the vice president before Tinubu overruled and directed that both of them should be included among those that must pay.
Keyamo, who disclosed this at the post-FEC media briefing, regretted that Very Important Persons (VIPs) with money who should pay are those that have not been paying, noting that only poor people had been charged for using the tollgates.
He added that this must now stop.
The minister said the Secretary to Government of the Federation will issue a service-wide circular to all relevant stakeholders for implementation
Keyamo stated: “No more exemption. No more exemptions. When we came to the office, we met a tradition on the ground where at the end of the year, all manners of VIPs would approach us for what they call complimentary e-tags or complimentary stickers. “Whereby you see them coming into our airports nationwide, they don’t pay the access fees. They don’t pay for parking, they don’t pay for essential services at airports, and they are VIPs.
“And I told myself and my team, I said not under my watch. It will not happen. If this tradition has been existing for years, I will not allow it to happen. Because it is inconceivable that in our country, it is the VIPs that don’t pay for services but it is the poor men who pay for services.
“The VIPs are supposed to have money to pay for services but they compel poor men to pay for services. And I said no. So, got my team together. I said we need the backing of council to compel everybody.
“In fact, guess what? Our memo says with the exception of the President and the Vice President. And the President overruled me and said he and the Vice President will pay, he said everybody.”
Keyamo wondered why services are paid for in other sectors and not aviation.
He added: “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 that’s nothing.
“So, why would anybody now come to my own sector and want to get free passage? Not possible under me. That is how bad it is.
“So, this has led in the past to loss of billions of Naira, not millions, annually because of this. And yet our airport infrastructure you know they’re decaying.
“I am helpless. I’m looking for concessionaires. I’m looking for help for decaying infrastructure and they’ll 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 improve infrastructure at the airport, we must pay for services.”
He said over N150 million is lost to the free e-tags given to VIPs, noting: “So, there was really no need to continue with this. I can go on and on and give you figures but it has led to massive loss in the past. And luckily, the council agreed with us, and Mr. President agreed with us. And it’s our president who said remove me from the exemption and the vice president, everybody should pay.
“So, it was approved and the SGF, should send a system-wide, circular to everybody. We are going to also write to everybody, be it in the judiciary, the legislature, the executive, the military high command. They can buy for their personnel yearly. You don’t have to pay for every time you pass.
“Buy the yearly tags for all your officers, you have the money to pay us, so that we can improve your services at the airport.”
Keyamo revealed that the ministry received approval for the procurement of aviation equipment at the cost of N4.2 billion.
He said the aircraft recovery equipment which is designed to respond to occasions of breakdown of aircraft from the runways.
The minister explained: “We got approval for that as part of ICAO’s requirements in the sum of N4.2 billion and a fraction, inclusive of VAT, with a completion period of 12 months to supply and also to train the handlers of these equipment to handle them and remove disabled aircraft from our runways.”
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