By Uzor Odigbo
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has disclosed that only six private aircraft owners in the country have responded to its call for registration on the ongoing verification of privately owned aircrafts in Nigeria which began June 7 to July 6, 2021, stating that it will not hesitate to sanction defaulters.
The service had on May 31, 2021, made public its intention to carry out holistic audit of the importation of private aircrafts operating in the Country. It stated that the documents sought for the verification include: Aircraft Certificate of Registration; NCAA’s Flight Operations Compliance Certificate (FOCC); NCAA’s Maintenance Compliance Certificate (MCC); NCAA’s Permit for non- Commercial Flights (PNCF) and Temporary Import Permit (TIP) where applicable.
The Service spokesperson, Joseph Attah, said in a press briefing in Abuja that in addition to the Press Conference on the 31st May 2021, the service made paid advertisement of invitation to private aircrafts owners for verification in some national newspapers on June 1, 2021, while online platforms have also been active on publication of the notice in public interest.
Part of the statement said: “With two weeks into the 30 days verification period, only six (6) owners of private aircrafts have responded to the invitation, necessitating this update and reminder to those who have not responded, to do so in other to avoid possible detention of their aircrafts.
“The Service believes that owners of private aircrafts are highly placed individuals who would be willing to comply with extant laws of the land governing importation of the aircrafts they own, this includes payments of all appropriate duties and taxes.
“As agency of government responsible for enforcement of laws governing imports and exports in Nigeria, NCS will not hesitate to invoke appropriate sanctions on any defaulting private aircraft owner immediately after the expiration of the verification period on Tuesday 6th July, 2021.
“For the avoidance of doubt, private aircrafts owners or their representatives are to report to room 305, Tariff & Trade Departments, Nigeria Customs Service, Wuse Zone 3, HQ Abuja from 10am to 5pm. Between Monday 7th June to Tuesday 6th July, 2021.”
The NCS said that the ongoing verification is not intended to inconvenience any owner of a private aircraft, as such individual or representative can come with the documents for verification.
It added that the importance of the exercise is to ensure that all aircrafts privately owned in the country were properly imported and cleared with all appropriate taxes paid.
Journal NG quoted Sam Adurogboye, the general manager in-charge of public relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), that as at February 2021, there are nine registered scheduled airlines and 21 registered nonscheduled ( Private Charter and Cargo) airlines in their data.
He stated that figures of aircrafts are unstable due to changes from time to time, based on industry complexities; such as dry lease and wet lease of aircrafts.
On the total number of private jets in the country he said: “I don’t have the number. There are quite a number of them, but I don’t have a specific number. It should not be less than 60 or so, but I don’t want to guess. Because a plane can be here today and gone tomorrow that’s why we put dates stating ‘as at this time’ in anything we issue. A plane can be in service today and out of service tomorrow. For example, Air Peace can have 20 planes today and it can be reduced to 12 tomorrow.
“Five could be due for maintenance and until they are done, they can’t use them. So, you can’t refer to them as serviceable planes. That is why we keep dating our messages,” he said.
