2025 BUDGET: Aviation and Aerospace Development Ministry’s Budget Suffers Rejection at National Assembly

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The National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation and Aerospace Development has  rejected the  budget proposal/ allocation to the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development for lacking detail and information gaps in it 2023-2024  budget performance report.

The lawmakers made the resolution when the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, appeared before them to defend his ministry’s  2024 budget performance and 2025 budget proposal presentation.

The joint committee at first queries the absent of provisions  for the N36 billion owed to former workers of the defunct Nigerian Airways which the minister gives accepting explanation.

Niger South Senator, Jiya Ndalikali, called the attention of the government to the non-payment of entitlements to ex-workers of the airline, many of whom have died or are currently battling financial hardship and ill health.

Mr Ndalikali, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), emphasised that justice must be done for those who dedicated their lives to serving the nation’s aviation sector.

“There is an issue that is not in your budget, which is very key and critical. The defunct Nigerian airways. There is a liability of N36 billion being owed.

“Some have died, many are sick and dying. Yet, the government is refusing to pay them. I think something should be done on that,” the senator said.

Mr Ndalikali requested the committee to ensure that provisions for the outstanding salaries are included in the 2025 budget of the aviation ministry before it is approved.

“This budget should not pass without those people being provided for,” the senator demanded.

Mr Kenyamo responding to  Sen. Jiya query acknowledged the outstanding liability and confirmed that the ministry had consistently pursued its settlement.

He explained that under the previous administration, discussions were held between aviation sector unions and the government which resulted in an official agreement that N36 billion was due to the workers.

He stated that President Bola Tinubu had transferred burden of the payment from the ministry of aviation to the ministry of finance.

“Under the last administration, both the unions and the ministry sat down and arrived at that figure, about N36 billion.

“However, there was a presidential directive for the ministry of finance to take over the payment of the liability from the ministry of aviation, because it would have been too much on the envelope of the ministry of aviation. The payment is domiciled in the ministry of finance ” he said.

Mr Kenyamo said he constantly sends reminder to the minister of finance for the payment through letters and official visitations.

“We have written several letters. We went there to visit, to press for payment. Myself and the union leaders, to show our transparency.

“I went there with the union leaders in November to meet the minister. They were all satisfied with our efforts. All the union leaders, the joint union aviation leaders, we went there, we appealed to him. He said he is working hard on it. That was in November, just two months ago, sir,” the minister said.

Sen. Nwabonyi Onyeka Peter (Ebonyi North Senatorial) The Deputy Chief Whip of the 10th Senate querying the information gaps in the 2024 budget performance report imployed the aviation and aerospace development minister to address Nigerians on the state 124 ongoing project captured in the 2023-2024 budget.

“I’ve taken my time to count it line by line, arriving at total of 124 ongoing projects. As a senior advocate of Nigeria – learned man, the minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, till date, have you been able to complete, or complete some of these projects, if not,  how many have been completed? How many are ongoing, and how many are being carried over to 2025 budget?

“Now going to the number thirty (13) in the list, the construction of control tower and technical building at the Enugu Airport, which happens to be my own Airport. This project was appropriated for in 2013 and the total form of 1.9 billion was enmark for this project. 75 million had been released as of today. Can you tell Nigeria’s the states of that project?”

Keyamo responds that  upon absorption of office, he ensure that  a team was set up by the past permanent secretary which he did and called the project monitoring team- made up of Ministry’s very senior directors.

Said  “there’s an actual report on that project. Yes, that’s part of what we’ll be bringing together when  doing 25 budget, yes,  we have been given one week to produce it.

Meanwhile, the minister presented a 2025 budget proposal of N71.13 billion, with N69.2 billion allocated for capital projects, N1.147 billion for personnel costs, and N745.7 million for overhead expenses.

The joint committee, chaired by Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (APC, Oyo North), reject   the budget, demands detailed reports on the status of 124 ongoing projects under the ministry.

“Provide us with the historical background and current status of all projects being executed by the ministry by next week. Only then can we approve the budget proposal,” Senator Buhari demanded at the request of committee members.

DISCONTINUATION OF AEROSPACE UNIVERSITY

Keyamo dismissed suggestions to discontinue plans for establishing Aerospace Universities across the six geopolitical zones, despite the existence of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria. He argued that decentralising aviation training, similar to the Nigerian Law School model, was necessary to meet growing demands in the aerospace sector.

TERMINATION OF N532  BILLION RUNWAY CONTRACT

Keyamo in an interview with men of the pen  immediately after the session reveals

reveals that the ministry terminated the controversial contract for the construction of the second runaway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja due to an outrageous variation in the project’s cost

Recall, the contract was originally awarded for N90 billion, the contractor demanded a variation of N532 billion, leading to the ministry’s decision to revoke the contract.

Keyamo made this disclosure during his budget defence session with the National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation on Wednesday.

“The ministry paid N3.4 billion in post-contract consultancy fees and later disbursed N30 billion as part of the N90 billion contract. However, the contractor left the site after using part of the funds to compensate settlers on the affected land. Attempts to get the contractor back to work were futile as they insisted on a fraudulent contract variation of N532 billion,” Keyamo stated.

Decrying the demand as an act of fraud, Keyamo explained that the ministry had no choice but to cancel the contract and reopen the bidding process.

Performance Assessment: FG slams aviation and aerospace development ministry,agencies for info gaps

In another development, the Federal Government has criticised the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and its agencies over their submission of incomplete information during a performance assessment.

 

The Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), led by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination Hadiza Usman, said this on Tuesday when she visited the Ministry of Aviation to review the Q1–Q3 2024 Performance Assessment Report on the implementation of Presidential Priorities and Ministerial Deliverables.

 

At the ministry headquarters in Abuja, she met with the Minister, Festus Keyamo, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Ibrahim Kana; the Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other Heads of Departments and Agencies under the Ministry.

 

Giving insight on what transpired during the meeting, the CRDCU stated in its official X handle that Usman expressed concerns with the Ministry and its agencies over their submission of incomplete information, which she said hinders the independent assessment of progress towards achieving certain deliverables. She also highlighted the Ministry’s shortcomings in stakeholder and customer engagement, a key deliverable that also requires urgent improvement.

 

“The Special Adviser commended the Minister and leadership of the Ministry for ensuring progress within the sector. However, she expressed concerns with the Ministry and its agencies over their submission of incomplete information, which hinders the independent assessment of progress towards achieving certain deliverables. She also highlighted the Ministry’s shortcomings in stakeholder and customer engagement, a key deliverable that also requires urgent improvement.

 

“The Special Adviser then recommended that the Ministry and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) revisit the draft policy on sanctions for airlines. She described this critical given the increasing number of flight delays and cancellations and the impact on affected passengers. She further recommended a revision of the current target of 224 days for resolving customer complaints, describing it as unrealistic and in need of urgent recalibration to align with global best practices,” CRDCU said.

 

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