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 on Wednesday on the inability of airlines to repatriate their funds from Nigeria to support their operations.
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.