The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has assured that the apex bank will release $120million to foreign airlines to offset some of their funds trapped in the country.
Quest Times had reported this week that the inability of foreign airlines to repatriate trapped funds accruing to millions of dollars, is one of the reasons why the UAE imposed a visa ban on Nigerians.
Emefiele made the promise during a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives, the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON), and representatives of the federal government, including Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation.
The CBN Governor said the apex bank has been working to enable international airlines to repatriate their funds, hence the resolve to release $265 million to them in August.
He added that the money has been disbursed to the airlines in piecemeal with $120 million set to be due on October 31.
“Everyone is calling on CBN to release blocked funds, and I am doing everything I can to provide dollars for you to repatriate your money,” he said.
“We used our discretion to allocate $265 million to the foreign airlines, broken down into spot and forward. We did $110 million on the spot and the rest in 60 days forward.
“On that day, we allocated to IATA $32 million through UBA. Qatar Airways, $22.8 million through Standard Chartered; Emirates, $19.6 million through Access Bank; British Airways, $5.5 million through GTB; Virgin Atlantic, $4.8 million through Zenith and others.
“How then can they go about and begin to say that they have not received money? This is an extra allocation. This is something I have told you (foreign airlines) that we will continue to do so that you will not blackmail the country. $120 million will be due on the 31 of October.”
A visibly angry Emefiele added that; “I can print Naira, even though I have been accused of printing Naira, but I cannot print Dollar. We have to either earn it or borrow it.”
He said there is an urgent need for foreign airlines to respect the Bilateral Aviation Services Agreement (BASA) as it would tackle the problem of unrepatriated funds.
“When you allow Nigerian airlines to fly in your country, what the airlines will do is charge Naira as we expect foreign airlines to charge. You cannot be flying 21 flights into Nigeria and you do not allow Nigerian airlines to land in your country and when they land, you intimidate them with sniffer dogs and do not allow them to carry out maintenance checks,’’ Emefiele said.
However, Samson Fatokun, the representative of IATA, said what is trapped in Nigeria from foreign airlines is about $700million.
He said the CBN should provide a timeline of how the funds are to be repatriated to assure the international airline operators.
“What we have right now is $700million — our balance is $700million. The airlines are reasonable by saying that [you] give us a plan for repatriation,” he said.
‘Most nauseating thing ever heard’
In his remarks, House Speaker Gbajabiamila said government would make efforts to at least pay half of the trapped funds by the end of 2022.
This, he said, would allow Emirates Airline of the UAE to return to status quo and the UAE visa ban on Nigerians to be lifted.
“Even if we clear the backlog, we will still run into these issues for as long as the BASA agreement of reciprocity is not respected because we will continue to accumulate,” he said.
“If BASA is respected, Nigerian airlines will reduce the deficit going to the foreign airline, so there is no running away from that and we will enforce that.”
Gbajabiamila said national interest should always be the overarching goal.
He added that if the visa ban was connected, in any way, with the trapped funds; that would be the most nauseating thing he would ever hear.
The lawmaker said it is important to resolve the issues as failure to do so would be tantamount to “cutting your nose to spite your face.”
“We will in the long run, sit with the government of UAE and let it know that Nigeria is not a country that you can toy with,” he said.
“I know that there are ways where Nigeria has upper hand on them; the doctrine of reciprocity is not confined to the issue at hand.
“It can be defined in a broad term and that is what I want the government of UAE and indeed any other country to realise. National pride and sovereignty are two important things. What they wouldn’t take, they should not dish out.”