Governor Oshiomhole Briefs President Jonathan On Shut Benin Airport

Benin City - Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State was on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to brief President Goodluck Jonathan on the incident that led to the closure of the Benin Airport on Tuesday.

Oshiomhole, who also used the opportunity of the visit to commiserate with the wife of the President, Patience, over the death of her foster mother, Mrs. Christy Oba, later told State House correspondents that the state government was not responsible for the closure.

He accused the General Manager of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria in the state of closing down the airport himself in order to attract public sympathy.

The governor said agents of the state government only went to the FAAN boss’ office to serve the court verdicts on the Pay-As-You-Earn, which the authority failed to remit to the state government since 2010.

He however said the issue had been properly resolved and that the airport was again open to the flying public, adding that his flight to Abuja from the same airport was a proof that the commercial activities had returned to the airport.

He said, “Tax is not a voluntary contribution by members of an association. It is a compulsory levy and if you default in countries, where the rule of law is strong, you are a candidate for the prison. It is non-negotiable.

“The state revenue board, having obtained the court order went to serve on the FAAN manager in his office, which is about 400 meters away from the airport, but the manager felt that the only way he can draw public attention, recognising the essential nature of the airport, is to shut  down the airport.”

Meanwhile, FAAN has announced the resolution of the outstanding tax payment issue it had with the Edo State Government.

The tax issue had led to the closure of activities at the Benin airport on Tuesday.

A statement by FAAN’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Yakubu Dati, on Thursday, said the agency was up-to-date with the payment of its PAYE taxes for the Benin airport as of June 2013.

It added that payment for July 2013 would be ready for by August 6, 2013, since FAAN pays salaries between the 24th and 25th of every month.

It said, “To date, the authority has not received the outstanding annual bill for shortfalls in 2012 from the Edo State Government. That bill will be paid as soon as it is received by FAAN.”

It explained that it remained the responsibility of the Head of Edo State’s Inland Revenue Service to exploit all available official avenue for resolving the issue of taxes before taking such drastic action that caused a lot of inconvenience to airlines, their passengers and other airport users.