50% Revenue Deduction Hampering Our Operations – Airspace Agency

The managing manager of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Farouk Umar has raised the alarm that the existent 50 per cent deduction of their gross astatine root has crippled the agency’s capableness to conscionable its statutory responsibility, grow capacity, and present connected planetary obligations.

The MD, portion speaking astatine the ongoing four-day retreat of the House Committee connected Aviation successful Abuja titled, “Emerging Trends successful Global Aviation: Sustainability, Technology, and Digital Transformation,” sought the involution of the National Assembly to extremity the 50 per cent gross deduction and attain fiscal autonomy.

According to Umar, modernising Nigeria’s aviation assemblage cannot hap without fiscal reform.

The NAMA brag stated that it had go imperative for NAMA to support captious infrastructure similar towers, radars, and connection networks; wage and bid thousands of skilled unit who negociate the skies daily; money captious upgrades similar Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) conscionable International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s stringent information standards arsenic good arsenic present continuous work to airlines without interruption.

However, helium called for the afloat enforcement of conception 9(2) of the NAMA Act 2022, which stipulates that each fees and charges imposed by NAMA are not taxable to deductions oregon remittance to immoderate different body.

He stressed that adherence to the provisions of Section 9 (2) of the NAMA Act would alteration the bureau to money captious infrastructure, guarantee regular attraction and calibration of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) instrumentality to guarantee compliance with ICAO standards, employment and bid captious unit and put successful digitalisation and innovation to stay competitory globally.

Umar besides solicited the House Committee’s involution to guarantee the implementation of the Obstruction Evaluation Fees Provision successful conception 18 (1) (a), (b) and (xii) of the aforesaid NAMA Act, 2022 which states that “there shall beryllium established and maintained by the agency, a money into which shall beryllium paid and credited each fees and funds accruing from obstacle valuation fees.”

He argued that the statutory proviso unambiguously empowered NAMA to cod obstruction valuation fees arsenic portion of its mandate to guarantee the safety, efficiency, and regularity of Nigeria’s airspace, but regretted “the existent overlap of roles, wherever different aviation bureau continued to workout functions statutorily vested successful NAMA, and constrained the agency’s capableness to harness this lawful gross source.”

Engr Umar’s demands besides included a broad reappraisal of the aerial navigation charges, which helium noted person been stagnant since 2008.

He emphasised that the reappraisal required urgent attraction to bespeak existent economical realities and guarantee due outgo recovery.

Earlier successful his address, the president of the House Committee connected Aviation, Rt. Hon. Abdullahi Idris Garba, expressed the nationalist assembly’s tendency to make actionable plans and reenforce priorities that heighten aviation information and besides amended infrastructure and regulatory compliance.

He noted that the clip had travel for stakeholders to efficaciously stock our expertise and synergise to code the challenges and besides pat into the opportunities that abound successful the sector.

He expressed assurance that the retreat would importantly fortify corporate efforts to beforehand the aviation assemblage successful Nigeria.