Yemisi Izuora
An agreement that will help airlines offset over N22 billion owed various agencies have been reached.
The Nigerian Civil Authority (NCAA), said it has secured an arrangement with the airlines in the liquidation of debt with a plan for them to reconcile their debts and the agreed payment plan.
It is uncertain how much the carriers including those in extinction owe the aviation regulatory but it reported to be over N5 billion while collectively, the carriers’ debts are said to be over N22b.
The Director-General of NCAA, Capt Musa Nuhu made the disclosure when the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation led by Nnolim Nnaji continued their oversight functions which commenced on Tuesday to the NCAA.
Just last month, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika put the debts of Nigerian airlines over the last 10 years to aviation agencies at about N22.2 billion.
The minister explained that the domestic carriers owe the agencies $6.9 million and N19.6 billion respectively and lamented their inability to pay their bills to the agencies, including five per cent charge from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), passenger service charge, landing and parking fees to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and overflight charges to the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
Nuhu equally disclosed that between now and 2024, it wouldl be developing all its regional offices providing adequate training, manpower to ensure that the regulatory agency provides its services in all books and cranny of the country.
The NCAA boss who expressed some of the immediate needs of the NCAA said the regulator understands the difficulty brought by the pandemic and will institute a payment plan that will be favourable to both the agency and operators.
On the need to develop regional offices to reduce the cumbersome nature of regulation and ensure its gets to the operators
According to him,” We are empowering five regional offices to ensure the the job in smaller areas get done and they do not have to refer to Lagos or Abuja. It brings regulation closer to the operators outside Lagos and Abuja opening more regional offices in the far reaches of the country.
“Already Port-Harcourt takes care of the south East and south-south buyer is looking at opening a regional office in Enugu for the South East. We are looking at another one in either Maiduguri or Yola for the North East, Ilorin for the middle-belt and Uyo or Calabar for the South-South.
The DG also explained that training for the inspectors and other regulatory staff are key to the agency and that the NCAA was competing for manpower especially pilots and engineers with airlines that pay better.
Nuhu however said it was key because these inspectors with the CAA needed more training to be better or r par with the trends in the industry so they an do their job better and that the only way to retain these pilots and engineers was to make the remuneration nearly at par with the airlines to keep them.
Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Nnaji said the House was on its oversight function and would look at what the NCAA has done and intends to do with what as been allocated and would be allocated to them
He also commended the NCAA for a job well done especially during the peak of the pandemic and how the regulatory agency handled it