 had directed the Nigeria Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) to ground these jets to recover the unpaid taxes.){kind=link}
The Federal Government has reversed its decision to ground 60 privately owned jets due to unpaid import duties totaling billions of naira. Initially, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) had directed the Nigeria Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) to ground these jets to recover the unpaid taxes.
The PUNCH reports that many private jets in Nigeria had not cleared their import duties, leading the NCS to conduct a verification exercise from June to July 2024.
The goal was to identify jet owners who had failed to fulfill their tax obligations.
Although the directive to ground the jets was set to take effect nearly three months later, on October 14, 2024, the NCS has now extended the deadline.
Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Umar Farouk, explained that the grounding was postponed after receiving a letter from the NCS requesting a 30-day grace period for defaulters to settle their outstanding duties.
“We were supposed to ground the jets today (Monday), but we received another letter from customs requesting a suspension for another month, possibly to allow time for settlement,” Farouk said.
This extension was confirmed by NCS spokesperson Abdullah Maiwada, who stated that the service aims to resolve the matter through dialogue, as many jet operators have shown willingness to clear their dues.
“The Nigeria Customs Service informs the public, especially private aircraft operators, that the verification exercise for recovering unpaid import duties on illegally imported private aircraft has been extended by one month, from Monday, October 14, 2024, to Thursday, November 14, 2024,” the statement read.
This additional time will be used to further engage with the operators, potentially avoiding the need to ground the jets.