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Demuren:How $60 million BASA money caused trouble for me
A former Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, has explained how he came under severe pressure to release Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) funds into a private account.
Although Demuren was silent on the exact amount he was pressured to transfer into a private account, it is reported that $60 million was the total amount of BASA funds later withdrawn by the government after Demuren vacated office.
Recounting his ordeal and what some stakeholders said triggered his removal from completing his second term tenure of five years as NCAA DG, Demuren who spoke at the inaugural lecture organised by a former General Manager, Public Affairs of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, with theme, “International Aeropolitics and Survival of Nigerian Carriers’ on London Route”, said transferring the fund which he was a signatory to but domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into a private account was highly suspicious.
Speaking briefly on the matter, he said, “They wanted me to transfer the BASA money into a private account, and I said no. I told them that signing the transfer into a private account would lead me to jail. I did not support using BASA money to paint toilets and some other things that were not necessary at the time”.
It was not clear who approved the funds, and how they were accessed after Demuren was removed from office under controversial circumstances.
The $60 million BASA fund was primarily approved for the rehabilitation and remodelling of infrastructure at the nation’s airports.
Nigeria’s revenue from the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) primarily accrues from royalties and fees paid by foreign airlines operating in Nigeria, particularly when these foreign airlines have more frequencies or entry points than Nigerian carriers have in their respective countries.
This creates an imbalance that results in direct financial benefits for the Nigerian government.
Due to various operational and financial challenges faced by local airlines over the years, Nigerian carriers often do not fully utilise their reciprocal rights to fly to all the destinations specified in the agreements.
The utilisation of the $60$ million from the BASA fund was a matter of public discussion. It was stated to have been accessed and utilised with the approval and endorsement of the Presidency and the National Assembly in 2012.
Weeks after the committees on aviation of the National Assembly claimed that debts incurred by the Ministry of Aviation in the course of terminal remodelling and building of perishable cargo terminals came to a whopping N174bn, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) explained how the money was disbursed to the contractors, the actual amount of the project and the debt.
FAAN, in its defence, in a document made available to journalists in 2014, explained that the “debts” accruing from the remodelling of airport projects were inflated by N26bn from the actual debts of N148bn to N174bn, adding that the projects were in three phases.
It explained further that Stella Oduah, former minister of aviation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and with the consent and endorsement of the Senate and House Committees on Aviation, made fiscal provisions for the funding of these projects, which the Ministry of Aviation later abandoned, hence the accrual of the debts.
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