Henceforth, the President, Vice President and other top government officials will pay access fees at all federal airports.
The Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Management has set a target of N10 billion in revenue from ticket sales.
Therefore, there will no longer be any payment exceptions.
This was part of decisions taken during a two-day meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which ended yesterday.
It was presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo (SAN) told reporters his ministry first wanted to exclude President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima from the tolls, but the President overruled him.
The minister said the approval was based on a memorandum detailing the financial losses from these exemptions.
According to him, the Federal Government had been losing 82 per cent of N10 billion in revenue that ought to accrue from airport tollgates.
Keyamo said the Council directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to send out a service-wide circular on the cancellation of the exemption, adding that his ministry would follow up on that circular.
Asked about specifics of projected income from the tollgates, he said: “How much are we expecting? It runs into billions. We are looking at raising at least N10 billion annually. This is a very big one for us. And we will market the e-tags so that VIPS will buy into it.
“No more exemption. When we came to the office, we met a tradition on the ground where at the end of the year, all manners of VIPs would approach us for what they call complimentary e-tags or complimentary stickers. They don’t pay the access fees at airports.
“They don’t pay for parking, they don’t pay for essential services at airports, and they are VIPs. I said not under my watch. It will not happen.
“If this tradition has been existing for years, I will not allow it to happen. Because it is inconceivable that in our country it is the VIPs who don’t pay for services but the poor pay.”
