...Says sector needs N50bn bailout not N4bn
November 23, 2020
By Sanni Onogu, Abuja
The Senate on Monday called on the Federal Government to take steps to avert what it described as looming danger in the aviation sector as a result of scarcity of maintenance parts for commercial airlines in the country.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West), made the call at a press conference in Abuja.
Adeyemi said that his outcry was premised on the information his Committee gathered from aviation stakeholders during its recently concluded public hearing on six aviation bills sponsored by the executive.
He lamented that the clearance of aircraft maintenance parts imported by airlines are being unduly delayed at the nation’s ports due to prohibitive m import duties being demanded by the Nigeria Customs Service.
He warned the Federal Government not to wait for any emergency to occur in the aviation sector before prevailing on the Nigeria Customs Service to allow airlines to clear their spare parts which are critical to smooth flying and safer skies in the country.
He said it would be disastrous for airline operators to be allowed to cut corners by attempting to manage their aircraft now lacking essential spare parts.
He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to consider an upward review of the N4billion bailout already earmarked by the Federal Government for aviation sector to N50billion.
Adeyemi said: “I want to put it on record that there is danger in flying in Nigeria today. There are instances of some planes skidding off the runway.
“We must support the airline operators pending when we have our own national carrier.
“But if we want to continue with the operators like most nations are doing today, we cannot afford to leave them on their own, because they will want to be in business and struggle to make profit, and by extension, there will be cutting of corners.
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“In most nations there are special considerations for airline operators because they must not cut corners.
“If the part is needed in three weeks’ time and it is not available and the operators decide to be managing, well you know what will happen.
“Let me explain what they are doing in some African countries so that you can understand what we are saying, because when you are convinced with your facts we would say these are the facts that we have gathered.
“It is left for those who are in the industry to dispute our position but these are the information we have gathered.”
He listed the observations made by his Committee during the public hearing to include the following:
“The Nigeria Customs Service has not complied with the Executive Order to waive any form of taxation on importation of spare parts for commercial aircraft.
“It has been discovered that there are still multiple forms of taxation persisting.
“There has also been non-compliance to the Executive Order on the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from air transport.
https://thenationonlineng.net/senate-wa ... on-sector/
