A Federal High Court in Lagos has issued an order compelling the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to disclose detailed information regarding the revenue generated from toll gates and parking fees at all federal government-owned airports.
The court also mandated FAAN to reveal the amount remitted from January 2015 to January 2024.
Presiding Judge Ibrahim Kala delivered the verdict, requiring FAAN to comply with the order within three months.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Registered Trustees of The Centre for Law & Civil Culture after FAAN failed to respond to their Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated August 24, 2022.
In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1086/2022, the Centre argued that FAAN’s non-compliance with the FOI Act, 2011, constituted a violation.
The parties adopted their written addresses on January 25, 2024, and the court adjourned for judgment.
In the judgment delivered on Friday, Judge Kala declared, “It is hereby declared that the refusal and failure of the respondents to accede to the Applicant’s freedom of information requests… is a gross violation of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.”
“An order of mandamus is, hereby, granted compelling the respondent to avail the applicant with the details of the statement of the accounts showing the total annual generated revenue from the toll gates and parking lots in each of the federal government-owned airports across the Federal Republic of Nigeria and evidence of yearly remittance of such sum so generated per year from January 2015 to January 2024 within a period of three months from today.”
