Former General Secretary of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative, John Ojikutu, has urged the House of Representatives to compel the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to contribute five per cent of its airport commercial earnings to the pool funding aviation safety agencies.
Ojikutu made the proposal in a presentation to the House Committee on Aviation and obtained by The PUNCH, in which he called for a comprehensive review of the sharing formula for the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge, Cargo Sales Charge and Chartered Flights Charge.
He argued that the existing arrangement among the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau and Nigerian Meteorological Agency was neither rational nor reflective of the different responsibilities and operational demands of the agencies.
According to him, the formula should take into account the number of personnel deployed by each agency, the volume of operational equipment, geographical spread, hours of operation and, most importantly, the safety responsibilities assigned to each institution.
Ojikutu said the five per cent charges were created to sustain mandatory aviation safety services, but questioned whether the current distribution adequately reflected the realities on the ground.
He maintained that agencies carrying heavy operational and safety responsibilities should not be left struggling for funds while critical infrastructure, equipment and personnel require continuous investment.
At the centre of his proposal is FAAN, which he said should no longer be treated merely as an airport infrastructure manager when considering contributions to aviation safety funding.
Ojikutu noted that FAAN operates several commercial and non-aeronautical services from which it generates substantial revenue, including passenger terminal services, aircraft landing and parking charges, cargo operations, car parks, toll gates, fuel sales, car-hire services, land and office rentals, shopping malls and restaurants.
He said the list also covers airline check-in counters, aerobridges, VIP lounges and other commercial operations conducted within airport facilities.
Ojikutu argued that since these services generate revenue in the aviation ecosystem, FAAN should contribute to the funding of the safety system that supports the airports and the wider industry.
He said, “The non-aeronautical services that are mostly commercial operators’ services, which mainly are the airlines operators, cargo operators, etc., must necessarily include FAAN.
“FAAN, being a commercial airport services operator, should contribute five per cent of its airport sales service charges into the general pool for aviation safety services.”
Ojikutu also proposed a major redistribution of the existing five per cent fund, with NAMA emerging as the biggest beneficiary.
He recommended that NAMA’s allocation should increase from the current 22 per cent to 40 per cent, citing the agency’s extensive safety responsibilities and the cost of maintaining the infrastructure required to keep Nigeria’s airspace safe.
NAMA provides air traffic control and navigational services to commercial, private, government, diplomatic and military aircraft operating within the country’s airspace.
Ojikutu estimated that the agency’s workforce includes more than 800 air traffic controllers, over 500 engineers and technologists, and more than 1,000 administrative and support personnel.
He warned that inadequate funding could put critical aviation safety infrastructure at risk, particularly where maintenance, replacement and calibration of equipment are delayed.
For the NCAA, Ojikutu recommended that its share should not exceed 40 per cent, compared with its current 56 per cent allocation.
He argued that the regulator already has more than 15 other revenue sources apart from the five per cent aviation charges, making it necessary to reconsider the size of its allocation from the common safety fund.
The proposed review, he said, should ultimately ensure that scarce aviation safety funds follow responsibility, operational exposure and actual funding needs rather than simply preserving an outdated sharing formula.
For Ojikutu, the issue is not merely about how aviation revenue is divided, but about ensuring that the agencies responsible for keeping passengers, aircraft and Nigeria’s airspace safe have the resources to do their jobs effectively.
