Abuja: The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has warned that actions capable of reducing its statutory revenue could weaken its operations and affect aviation safety oversight. The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Mr. Michael Achimugu, gave the warning at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the concern followed moves to reduce the NCAA’s share of the Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) in favour of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). Achimugu stated that the NCAA was established as a self-sustaining regulatory body and that a bill on the issue was already before the National Assembly. He emphasized that reducing the authority’s financial capacity could affect its ability to carry out regulatory oversight effectively and potentially expose air travellers to safety risks.
Achimugu recalled that the NCAA is mandated by law to collect five per cent TSC and remit portions to NAMA, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) as prescribed. He noted that aviation experts had observed that in countries where air navigation service providers were commercialised or privatised, such agencies were largely self-funded and not dependent on government allocations.
The director highlighted that the NCAA, as the aviation safety regulator, required adequate funding to maintain its oversight responsibilities, including training and equipping inspectors. He pointed out that although the five per cent TSC was introduced to reduce government funding burden, a significant portion of this major funding window for the Authority was still ceded to other aviation agencies.
Achimugu stressed that regulatory inspectors must possess superior technical competence compared to service providers to enforce safety standards effectively. He attributed Nigeria’s improved performance in international aviation safety and security audits, as well as better protection of passenger rights, to the NCAA’s regulatory efforts.
He urged stakeholders to consider the implications of reducing the authority’s funding, noting that aviation regulators globally require adequate resources because of their critical role in protecting lives. Achimugu suggested that agencies with independent revenue-generating mandates should focus on developing their own funding streams instead of relying heavily on the NCAA’s statutory allocation.
The NCAA spokesman mentioned that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had intervened to resolve the matter among the affected agencies. He appealed to stakeholders to allow the minister to handle the issue rather than making statements capable of influencing public opinion.
Additionally, Achimugu dismissed reports that the authority was indebted to NAMA, explaining that statutory deductions and remittances were processed directly by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He clarified that the NCAA did not operate a separate account for such remittances and available records showed the processes were ongoing.