Foreign Airlines operating at Nigerian airports have disputed a claim by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it has settled all outstanding backlog of forex claims, saying over $700million of their ticket revenue was still trapped in the country.
LEADERSHIP reports that the CBN had in January said it had concluded the payment of all verified claims by foreign airlines with the payment of an additional $64.44m to concerned airlines.
The central bank said the development had brought the total verified amount paid to the air transport sector to $136.73m, adding that “all the verified airline claims had now been cleared.”
Also, on Wednesday, the apex bank cleared additional $7billion, thereby effectively eliminating a legacy burden.
But, speaking against the backdrop of the CBN’s claim of legitimate FX clearance, the foreign airlines argued that over $700m of their ticket fund is still currently trapped in Nigeria.
In an exclusive chat with LEADERSHIP, the President of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Kingsley Nwokoma, stated that about $700million belonging to foreign airlines was still trapped in the nation.
According to him, if the CBN truly cleared the backlog of FX belonging to the foreign airlines, they should show that with evidence of payment.
“This statement is just like the same thing they said the last time, if they say they cleared all forex backlog, and which include the foreign airlines’ backlog, it’s easy, it’s just for them to show everyone evidence to see that the foreign airlines backlog has been paid.
“However, it’s still the same amount they paid. They paid twice and we all know that the foreign airlines are complaining that they are still being owed over $700million. If they say they have cleared it, then they should be transparent because transparency means how much they have paid to each sector, they should let us know,” Nwokoma stated.
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