Aviation

Customs grounds 62 private jets over tax evasion

86 private jets/ aircraft owners participated in Customs’ verification exercise

Eyewitness reporter

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has grounded about 62 aircraft that defaulted in the ongoing verification of import documents exercise.

Speaking at a press briefing, the National Public Relations Officer of the service, Joseph Attah said the grounding won’t be lifted until the jet owners present their import document duly certified by the Service.

He said, “The Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria has been put on notice to ensure only privately owned aircraft duly verified, and cleared by Customs are authorized to operate within our airspace.”

“Within the stipulated period, 86 private jets/aircraft operators showed up for the exercise and presented the relevant documents for verification.

private jets

“Of this number, 57 were verified as commercial charter operators, and were duly cleared for operations, 29 other private jets/aircraft were found liable for payment of Customs duty. Their values were assessed, and the appropriate demand notices were issued to their owners for the payment of outstanding duties.

“However, 62 other private jet/aircraft whose registration numbers were duly obtained from the appropriate authority were not verified because their owners or designated representatives made no presentations to Customs that could help determine their status.

“To this effect, all 57 commercial charter jet/aircraft operators who presented their documents for verification are requested to come forward to the Tariff and Trade Department of the Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters, Abidjan Street, Wuse Zone 3 Abuja-FCT, Room 312 between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm to collect their Aircraft Clearance Certificates.

“All 29 Private Jet/Aircraft owners and or their representatives who have been issued with demand notices have been given (14) days from the 11th of October 2021 to collect and make payments to the designated Federal Government accounts after which they will be issued with Aircraft Clearance Certificates,” he stated.

He said the owners of the 62 private aircraft for which no presentations were made for their verification, and whose status remains uncertain are requested to immediately furnish the tariff and trade department of the Service with the necessary documents for verification and clearance.

Attah implored all concerned to avail themselves of the opportunity as the NCS it will not hesitate to activate enforcement procedures on identified defaulters.

In line with its statutory functions as provided for in PART III Sections 27, 35, 37, 45, 46, 47, 52, 56, 63 & 64; Part XI Sections 144, 145, 155, 160, 161&164 and Part XII Sections 167, 168, 169 173&174 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), All owners of private aircraft in the country were invited to come forward with their relevant importation clearance documents for verification.

The exercise took place between the 7th of June and August 6th, 2021 at the Tariff and Trade Department of the Service.

The documents requested 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).

Aviation

NANTA’ visits to Turkey yields results as Turkish ambassador announces ease of visa regime

The Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Mehmet Poroy

– targets trade boost with Nigeria

Gloria Odion

Barely a week after the leadership of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) returned from a trade penetration and visa regime advocacy visit to Istanbul, the Ambassador of the Türkiye to Nigeria, Mr. Mehmet Poroy, has announced that the stringent visa ecosystem of Türkiye would henceforth be eased to encourage travel, tourism, and trade between the two countries.

NANTA, led by its President, Mr. Yinka Folami, during the Istanbul trade tour, had impressed it on the minds of the Turkish Travels Association Leadership (TURSAB) that the visa regimes of the Türkiye nation are hurting trade and tourism visits by Nigerians and solicited interventions by the influential Türkiye travel trade group to ease the pain.

Speaking at the Turkiye culinary week in Abuja last week, the Ambassador stated that his country would relax the visa regime, noting that Nigeria and Türkiye have a lot to benefit from open trade in commerce and tourism, with Turkiye government targeting about five billion US dollars trade boost, and a forty billion US dollars target from the African continent, at the implementation of ease of visa regimes and engagement by the two nations and Africa in general.

NANTA President, excited by the response of the Türkiye Ambassador to Nigeria, urged the Nigerian government to quickly address the visa regime concerns of the Türkiye travel trade and business community wishing to also visit and do business with Nigeria, reiterating NANTA’s desire and advocacy to open and invite the world to Nigeria.

“We at NANTA are excited by the prompt response of the Türkiye Ambassador in Nigeria to our request during our marketing and promotion penetration visit to Istanbul.

“We did not do this alone as we see the new development as a supportive gesture from the Turkish Travel Association leadership and Turkish Airlines management.

“Without their their support, our advocacy visit would have just been another wasted opportunity and rhetorics exercise.”

Meanwhile, about 90 registered members of the association arrived Banjul, Gambia in early hours of Tuesday morning to the warm embrace of the drumming of Cultural Troupe here, with the state immigration officials, making sure the Nigerian travel trade professionals have a stress-free entry into the smiling coast of Africa.

The group, on a week training and retraining exposure expedition, was flown into Gambia by Air Peace, the official carrier for the association, which also announced other partners such as the Djeliba group – owners of four exclusive luxury beach resorts; the Kombo, the Tamala, Halifax, and the Balafon Apartment and Tanala Voyage.

The Gambia Tourism Board is the host partner, while The Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute facilitated the training certification programme.

Aviation

Keyamo approves relocation of FAAN back to Lagos ,says staying in Abuja is waste of public funds.

Keyamo

The Eyewitness Reporter

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has explained the reasons why he approved the relocation of the Headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) back to Lagos.

In a press statement signed Mrs. Obiageli Orah, Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Keyamo explained that the initial relocation of FAAN headquarters from Lagos, from where it had been operating decades ago, was ill-advised which he said amounted to a waste of public funds.

The Minister further explained that those affected by the initial decision to move the agency’s headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there was no office space for them in Abuja.

“We have noted the inquiries some Nigerians have made regarding the directive of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, to relocate the corporate Headquarters of FAAN from Abuja to its original base, Lagos, where it has operated for decades until recently.

“FAAN wishes to inform Nigerians that following wide consultations by the new Management of FAAN with stakeholders, which also involved the Unions, it was agreed that this was in the best interest of the Authority and the country for now for the following reasons:

“It was ill-advised in the first place to move the headquarters to Abuja when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate all of them at once.

” Those affected by the initial decision to move the agency’s headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja

“Having returned to Lagos, the Authority would be liable to pay them DTA (DUTY TOUR ALLOWANCE) because technically they are working OUT OF STATION as their official posting is to ABUJA.

“The Minister has decided to stop this waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.

⁠”The other option open to the Authority was abandon the old FAAN building in Lagos to rot away and to use its scarce resources to rent an office space in Abuja for Millions of Naira of public money when in actual fact more than sixty percent of its activities are in Lagos given the huge passenger volume of the Lagos airports.

“The stakeholders and the Minister decided against that and to save the country this waste.

“The Minister has rolled out plans to get concessionaires to build befitting offices for the Authority in Lagos and Abuja and until that is done, the Authority will continue to manage its old building in Lagos that can accommodate all its Directors and senior officials for now.

“⁠Abuja continues to have full operational offices and the Authority has not scaled down operations in Abuja one bit.

“It is just the technical decision of where the Authority has its ‘corporate headquarters’ that has been taken without affecting the structure of operations as they are for now in both cities.

” ⁠In the near future, when befitting corporate buildings have been built for the Authority in both Lagos and Abuja, a final decision will be taken as to the location of the permanent headquarters, depending on the exigencies of the time.

“The Authority wishes to assure members of the public that it will continue to act in the best interest of the public and the country.

“The Honourable Minister is committed to making decisions that are in the best interest of the country, especially as it concerns public funds and will not yield to ethnic or sectional sentiments that will derail this commitment”, the statement concluded.

Aviation

News Alert! Pandemonium in Lagos as Helicopter explodes, crashes into building

The Eyewitness Reporter

Confusion and panic gripped the residents of Oba Akran area of Lagos when a Helicopter crashed into a resident building in the area.

According to an eyewitness at the scene of the incident, the helicopter crashed into a building located adjacent AP filling station and United Bank of Africa (UBA) and exploded.

The incident, which happened around 3:00 pm Tuesday, caused pandemonium among the residents in the area who ran helter-skelter.

Sources said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was immediately mobilised to the scene where four persons were rescued from the wreckage.

NEMA’s Lagos Territorial Office Coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye who confirmed the crash, said rescue operations were ongoing.

He said details were still sketchy, adding that information would be provided as soon as they were available.