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FAAN: Why we relocated headquarters from Abuja to Lagos

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has disclosed the reasons behind the relocation of its headquarters from Abuja to Lagos State.

The Star had reported that FAAN announced the relocation of its headquarters from Abuja to Lagos, where it operated for decades until recently.

However, FAAN, in a statement issued by its Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Obiageli Orah, on Thursday, January 18, 2024, noted that the Authority relocated its corporate headquarters from Abuja to Lagos to reduce expenditures.

She further listed reasons for the relocation to include lack of office spaces for officials who initially moved to Abuja.

She added that the returnee staff were drawing out station allowances because their postings were Abuja but they were working from Lagos thereby increasing revenue losses.

Orah disclosed that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Kayamo, gave the order for the relocation, to stop the waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.

She stated that the FAAN management with stakeholders agreed that the action was in the best interest of the Authority and the country.

Orah said: “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 (Duty 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.

“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 60 per cent 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.”

Orah said Keyamo has unveiled plans to get concessionaires to build befitting offices for FAAN in Abuja and Lagos.

She noted that upon completion of the project, a final decision would be taken on the final location of the corporate headquarters.

She said in the interim, FAAN will continue to manage its old buildings in Lagos which could accommodate all its directors and senior officials.

The FAAN spokesperson added: “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.

“The Authority wishes to assure members of the public that it will continue to act in the best interest of the public and the country.”

The Star