…FAAN says relocation done to stop waste of resources
By Sade Williams
The Federal government has relocated the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos.
This was contained in a memo dated 15th of January, 2024 and signed by the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku.
”The Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development has directed that the Headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should be relocated from Abuja to Lagos.
”Consequent upon the above, you are requested to provide the implication of the relocation to the management.”, the memo reads.
Meanwhile, another FAAN statement signed by Mrs. Obiageli Orah, spokesperson for the Authority, explained that the decision to relocate the headquarters to Lagos was to stop waste of public funds.
It explained further that after due consultations with stakeholders, it was agreed that this was in the best interest of the Authority and the country.
The Authority added that those affected by the decision to move the headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja.
“It was ill-advised in the first place to move the headquarters to Abuja when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate all of them at once.
“Having returned to Lagos, the Authority would be liable to pay them DTA (Duy Tour Allowance) because technically they are working out of station as their official posting is to Abuja. The Minister has decided to stop this waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.”, it stated.
It noted that the other option open to the Authority was abandon the old FAAN building in Lagos to rot away and to use its scarce resources to rent an office space in Abuja for Millions of Naira of public money when in actual fact more than sixty percent of its activities are in Lagos given the huge passenger volume of the Lagos airports.
“The stakeholders and the Minister decided against that and to save the country this waste.
The Minister has rolled out plans to get concessionaires to build befitting offices for the Authority in Lagos and Abuja and until that is done, the Authority will continue to manage its old building in Lagos that can accommodate all its Directors and senior officials for now.
“Abuja continues to have full operational offices and the Authority has not scaled down operations in Abuja one bit. It is just the technical decision of where the Authority has its ‘corporate headquarters’ that has been taken without affecting the structure of operations as they are for now in both cities.
” In the near future, when befitting corporate buildings have been built for the Authority in both Lagos and Abuja, a final decision will be taken as to the location of the permanent headquarters, depending on the exigencies of the time.”, it said.
The Authority assured members of the public that it will continue to act in the best interest of the public and the country, adding that the Minister is committed to taking decisions that are in the best interest of the country, especially as it concerns public funds and will not yield to ethnic or sectional sentiments that will derail this commitment.
