After Suspending 3 Private Jets, FG Invites Dangote, Adenuga, Others for Verification
- Private aircraft owners operating within the nation are being requested by the federal authorities to show their documentation for authorisation
- The exercise's goal is to locate privately owned aircraft that have been mistakenly brought without the necessary paperwork
- Those expected to honour the invitation include high-ranking politicians, church leaders, business owners, musicians and others
The federal government has asked owners of private aircraft flying in the country to present their papers for permission.
Source: UGC
The notice with the order was issued by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
According to the NCS, the exercise's objective is to identify privately owned aircraft that have been incorrectly imported without the required documentation, ensure correct imports, and optimise tax collection.
The statement reads:
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“The Nigeria Customs Service announces a verification exercise for privately owned aircraft operating in Nigeria.”
“This exercise aims to identify improperly imported private aircraft without documentation, ensuring proper imports and maximum revenue collection.”
Legit.ng earlier published a list of Nigerians who own private jet in the country. The list includes Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Allen Onyema, Olusegun Obasanjo and many more.
A 30-day exercise
The 30-day program is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, June 19, and will be held at the Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters, 4 Abidjan Street, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, in the Tariff and Trade Department Room.
The verification exercise is scheduled to take place every day from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
The notice states that those who own and operate private aircraft within the nation must present certain necessary documentation.
These include aircraft Certificate of Registration, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s Flight Operation Compliance Certificate, NCAA’s Maintenance Compliance Certificate, NCAA’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flights, and Temporary Import Permit (if applicable).
The development comes one year after the FG put the exercise on hold. The government had planned to recover import duty, running into billions of naira from some private jet operators who had taken advantage of technical loopholes to evade the payment of import duty.
Wealthy Nigerians, prominent businessmen, and major commercial banks were among the approximately 17 owners of foreign-registered private jets that filed a lawsuit against the federal government sometime in 2021 to prevent their aircraft from being grounded due to purported import duty default.
This was happened after the federal government authorised the NCS's decision to halt around 91 private aircraft due to their purported failure to pay import tariffs totalling more than N30 billion.
The NCS began reviewing import taxes paid on private aircraft bought into the nation since 2006 in 2021.
NCAA suspends 3 private jets
Legit.ng also reported that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority suspended the permission of three private aircraft operators to operate for commercial purposes.
This was stated in a Riot Act signed by Captain Chris Najomo, the acting director general, and posted on the NCAA website on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.
Earlier on Monday, Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, warned the private jet operators that their operations were costing the federal government a significant amount of money since they were operating without a license to provide commercial services.
Proofreading James Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
