The House of Representatives has begun steps to recover more than $7 billion, which it says is owed to the Federation Account by foreign airlines operating in Nigeria since 2023.
Abiodun Faleke, chairman of the House Committee on Finance, made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday during the review of the 2023–2025 revenue monitoring exercise of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). The exercise forms part of a parliamentary push to improve remittances by revenue-generating agencies.
Faleke raised concerns about the scale of aviation debt attributed to both international and domestic carriers after a presentation by Olubunmi Kuku, FAAN’s managing director.
He said the committee was aware that more than $7 billion was owed by international carriers at the time President Bola Tinubu assumed office. He called for a comprehensive breakdown of all outstanding debts for 2023, 2024 and 2025, including the identities of the indebted airlines.
He stressed the need for detailed passenger and flight data to support the agency’s submissions. Lawmakers requested information on the number of airlines operating into Nigeria within the review period, the volume of flights handled and passenger traffic figures, noting that such data should be verifiable through flight manifests.
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In her presentation, Kuku said airline operators owed FAAN N25.86 billion in 2023. Of that amount, N8.08 billion, equivalent to 31.25 per cent, was recovered, leaving an outstanding N17.78 billion. She did not specify the level of recoveries recorded in 2025.
She explained that FAAN generated N191.43 billion over the period under review, against an approved revenue target of N292.93 billion. The performance, at 65.35 per cent, translated into a shortfall of N101.5 billion.
Kuku told lawmakers that the debts were attributable to a mix of local and foreign airlines, including operators that are no longer in service.
She noted that some revenues due from international carriers are channelled through the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which coordinates remittances on their behalf, a process she suggested had contributed to payment delays.
Members of the committee were unconvinced by the explanations, citing Nigeria’s growing public debt burden and continued recourse to external borrowing to finance the budget. They also queried elements of FAAN’s accounting framework and flagged inconsistencies in the revenue performance data presented.
The committee directed FAAN’s management to return with a full statement of indebtedness covering the three-year period, alongside detailed manifests of both foreign and domestic airlines that operated during that time.
