The Senate, on Wednesday, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release $717.5 million of airline funds trapped in the country.
The upper house also asked the CBN to allocate $25 million to airlines operating in Nigeria in its biweekly dollar auction.
These resolutions were reached as a consequence of the consideration of a motion titled: “Current Issues on Airline Blocked Funds in Nigeria” sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi (PDP-Ekiti) on Wednesday in plenary.”
Ms. Olujimi chairs the Senate Aviation Committee.
Committee Vice Chairman Bala Na’Allah (APC-Kebbi) introduced the motion on behalf of Ms. Olujimi.
The upper house also called on the federal government to urgently reverse the current trend of increasing blocked funds from airlines in Nigeria.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to pay the blocked funds to the affected airlines.
The upper house also called on airlines operating in the country not to withdraw their services while efforts to resolve the issue continue.
Introducing the motion, Mr. Na’Allah said that since January 2021, Nigeria had been the most challenging country in the world for airlines to repatriate their funds to support their operation.
In February, Nigeria alone accounted for 44 percent of the total funds blocked by airlines worldwide.
Total funds blocked by airlines in Nigeria as of March amounted to $717,478,606 comprising expired offers not yet delivered by the CBN, offers yet to expire and cash balances in airline accounts for repatriation.
Expired offers not delivered by CBN amounted to USD 186.5 million, representing 26% of the total funds blocked, while three stakeholders (IATA, Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airlines) accounted for 57% of the total funds blocked .
A review of funds blocked by airlines in Nigeria over the past six months shows an average monthly increase of $49.3 million.
The consequences of these blocked funds are: cheap tickets are not available in Nigeria because taxes and inflation will have eroded profits when the funds are held for a long time.
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This makes tickets very expensive and limited because neighboring countries get cheap tickets due to timely payments due to prompt repatriation of funds.
Senators in their contributions supported the motion and voted to approve the sentences when Senate President Ahmed Lawan put them to a voice vote.
(YAYA)