Nigerian senators have expressed divergent views on the recent huge increase of airfares by domestic airlines as passengers lament the hike and poor services by them.
This is as the upper legislative chamber has insisted that the funds meant for the rehabilitation of federal roads by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) which is held by the federal government should be released to the agency.
These views were made known by the senators during plenary on Tuesday, when discussing a motion brought by Senator Gershom Bassey, drawing the attention of his colleagues to the increase in airfare and the implication for Nigerian roads.
What the Senators are saying
Senator Bassey cited orders 41 and 51 to seek the leave of the Senate to move a motion on the increase in airfare and the implication for the Nigerian roads, saying that the minimum economy class ticket is around N80,000 for travellers.
He said, “The humongous debt owed to FERMA by the federal government has hampered the effective discharge of the agency’s primary responsibility of road maintenance and rehabilitation.’’
Speaking on the motion, a senator from Rivers State, George Sekibo, said the hike in airfare and bad roads are adversely affecting the country’s economy.
He said, ‘’The Prices of airfare has gone so high despite their failure in performing very well. We have to do something so that Nigerians who travel by air can commute and do their business.
“The law establishing FERMA in section 14 has provided a five percent charge from petroleum pump prices. This money from the inception of the law is being collected. Who is collecting it?
“Over N850 billion has been collected. If we have N850 billion, maybe it won’t be able to complete all the roads but it will repair 50 percent and people can now move easily.”
On his part Senator Hassan Hadejia said that the price increase is not tenable, adding that the insecurity across the country has forced Nigerians to use airlines.
He said, ‘’The reason given for this price increase is not tenable. I understand there are now 30 new licenses being processed on new airlines in the country. Apart from the bad roads, I think the biggest factor that drives people to the airline is insecurity.
‘’We are seeing state-owned like Ibom air bringing in brand new aircrafts. This administration has removed duties on aircrafts. For airlines to say their profits are being affected, I think we need to look at and because you are forced to fly there is nothing you can do than continue to pay.’’
However, Senator Adamu Aliero from Kebbu State, in support of the airlines admitted that the rise in foreign exchange rate might have driven up cost for the airlines.
He said, ‘’We should not look at the efforts being made by the federal government to reconstruct and rehabilitate the roads in the country. We also have to understand the efforts by the federal ministry of works to generate funds to rehabilitate the bad roads we have.
‘’I think we are spending huge amount of money in rehabilitating our roads in the country. On the issue of rise in airfare, we have to consider the fact that the exchange rate has gone up and 90% of aviation is funded by foreign exchange, so obviously, if you buy foreign exchange at black market, definitely you have to recover the cost and that is why the airfares have gone up.’’
The Senate as part of its resolution during the discussion asked the federal government to declare a state of emergency on federal roads to improve on alternative means of transportation in the country.
They also asked the government to adhere to the recommendations of the Ad-hoc committee on the disbursement of the 5% accrued funds to FERMA and pay the allegedly owed debt to the agency.
What you should know
- Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that the airfares for domestic flights have risen by over 100%, to between N50,000 to N80,000 for a one way trip, depending on the location.
- There are reports that it might rise to N100,000 for a one way trip in a few days.
