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FG Bans 91 Private Jets Belonging to Clergymen, Businessmen, VIPs’, Over N30bn Duty
The Federal Government has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service to halt 91 private jets belonging to certain wealthy Nigerians for allegedly refusing to pay import fees totaling over N30 billion.
As a result, following a presidential directive, the Comptroller-general of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (retd. ), has written a letter to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, requesting that the affected private jets be grounded immediately.
The letter was written to Capt Musa Nuhu, Director-General, NCAA, with the reference number NCS/T&T/ACG/042/s.100/VOL.II, and was dated Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
The letter instructed the National Civil Aviation Administration (NCAA), the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAAN) to ground the private jets indefinitely by denying them administrative and operational flight certifications.
The letters were also received by the aviation agencies on Monday, November 8, 2021, according to the newspaper’s findings.
The NCAA letter read in part: “The Federal Government in its drive for enhanced revenues has mandated the Nigeria Customs Service to immediately recover from defaulting private aircraft owners the required statutory import duties on their imported aircraft.”
Independent investigations revealed that some of the 91 private jets ordered to be grounded belong to senior pastors of some of the country’s most popular Pentecostal churches, some Tier-1 banks, one of which owns two upmarket jets, the CEOs of some indigenous oil companies, and the chairmen of some Tier-1 banks.
According to a Customs person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity:
“The 91 private jets owe import duties in excess of N30 billion, and the Federal Government has mandated that the Customs reclaim this money,” a Customs source familiar with the situation said, requesting anonymity.
“This is why we’ve written demand letters to the owners of private jets.”
Remember that the NCS began an examination of import tariffs paid on private jets brought into the country since 2006 in March of this year.
