About 80 operators of private jets are being summoned by the federal government through the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), as a fresh move to clamp down on operators of improperly imported private jets into the country, may have begun checks on Monday have revealed.
The operators of the private jets are expected to appear at the headquarters of the NCS in Abuja with their aircraft import documents.
The special aircraft import verification exercise, which begins on Wednesday (tomorrow), is expected to last for 30 days, according to a public notice issued by Customs.
The notice, sighted by one of The PUNCH correspondents, read in part, “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.”
According to the notice, owners and operators of private jets in the country are to come with some relevant documents.
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 exercise is expected to lead to the payment of the mandatory import duty, while aircraft operators who fail to pay may have their jets grounded.
The latest plan to clamp down on operators of improperly imported private jets came more than one year after the Federal Government suspended the action.
In the past three years, the government had planned to recover import duty running into billions of naira from some private jet operators who had used certain technical loopholes to evade the payment of import duty.
A few private jet owners paid the mandatory import duty after the Hameed Ali-led NCS took some significant steps to recover the revenue. However, several owners and operators of private jets in the country have yet to pay the statutory duty.
Many private aircraft operators in the country have allegedly explored technical loopholes in the regulation to fraudulently obtain a Temporary Import Permit from the Nigeria Customs Service instead of paying the statutory import duty on their imported aircraft.
Meanwhile, National Public Relations Officer, NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Monday, confirmed the verification exercise, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
In response to enquiries by the media on what actions the agency would take after the verification exercise, Maiwada simply said, “All we are doing is to ensure maximum revenue collection for the Federal Government. Relevant sections of our extant laws and regulations will guide our actions and inaction during and after the exercise.”
