Nigerian Govt Wastes N1bn Yearly On FAAN Officials Shuffling Between Abuja and Lagos – Keyamo

The Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said the Nigerian Government spends N1 billion on Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) and air tickets for Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, officers who travel back and forth from Abuja to Lagos, annually.

Keyamo disclosed this 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.

The minister insisted on going ahead with the Federal Government’s decision to relocate FAAN headquarters to Lagos despite opposition from certain quarters.

Recall that on January 19th, 2023, Keyamo announced the relocation of FAAN headquarters from Abuja to Lagos.