Relocation saga: FAAN officials got N493m DTA for daily Lagos-Abuja trips in 2023, says Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says officials of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) received over N493 million last year as duty tour allowance (DTA).

Keyamo disclosed this in a post on his official X handle on Thursday.

On Wednesday, during an interview on Channels Television, Keyamo said the relocation of FAAN headquarters from Abuja to Lagos was important due to the cost of operation.

He said FAAN officials spent N450 million on flight tickets last year, as they fly every day to and fro Abuja to get documents signed.

While raising concerns about the amount spent annually on transportation, Keyamo said the headquarters is where the decision-makers meet, not where the largest number of workers are and not where the biggest building is.

He said over 100 of the 132 workers at the head office are in Lagos while only the directors are in Abuja — without their support staffers.

But giving an update on FAAN’s travel expenses in a statement on Thursday, Keyamo said aside from N450 million spent on flight tickets yearly, the agency also spent N493 million on DTA.

“When I did my Channels TV interview yesterday, I had not been briefed as to 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 on a daily basis. The amount came up to N493,678,620.37,” Keyamo said.

“This is aside from the air tickets which I mentioned that 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!”

Keyamo said the relocation of FAAN headquarters has been implemented and officials have resumed.