Pay up airlines’ blocked funds – Senate tells Emefiele

ARLINGTON, VA - NOVEMBER 23: A United Airlines plane takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport November 23, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. With Covid-19 vaccinations on the rise and Americans now traveling more freely, U.S. airports and airlines are expecting millions more passengers this holiday season compared to 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Drew Angerer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The Senate is asking President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to pay up blocked funds belonging to airlines operating in the country.

The Upper Chamber made the request after Senator Bala Na’allah presented a motion during plenary session yesterday on the inability of airlines to repatriate their funds from Nigeria to support their operations, reports Channels TV.

According to Na’allah, the consequences of these blocked funds are that cheap tickets are not available in Nigeria.

The reason, he said, was that taxes and inflation would have eroded the profit when the funds are kept for a long time, thereby making tickets very expensive.

The senator explained that another dire consequence of the inability of airlines to repatriate their monies was that airlines were folding and relocating to neighbouring countries, further worsening unemployment in the country.

 

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