The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), NCAA Branch, has warned that the proposed reduction in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) statutory share of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge could weaken the country’s aviation safety oversight and endanger lives.
In a position paper jointly signed by its Chairman, Comrade Diepreye Stephen Saburugha, and Secretary, Comrade (Engr.) Celestine Nkemakolam Chukwu, the union described the proposed amendment before the National Assembly as a direct threat to the financial independence of Nigeria’s aviation regulator.
According to the association, reducing the NCAA’s allocation from 56 per cent to 40 per cent while increasing the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency’s (NAMA) share from 22 per cent to 40 per cent “is not simply another adjustment to a revenue-sharing formula, but a fundamental departure from the philosophy upon which Nigeria’s aviation safety oversight system was established.”
NAAPE recalled that past air disasters, including the Bellview Airlines, ADC Airlines and Dana Air crashes, underscored the importance of maintaining a financially independent and technically capable safety regulator.
“The rules, inspections, certifications and oversight systems that protect passengers today were strengthened through painful lessons and difficult reforms. Aviation safety can never be taken for granted, and a weak regulator ultimately places lives at risk,” the union stated.
It argued that the NCAA bears the responsibility of certifying airlines, inspecting aircraft, approving maintenance organisations, overseeing flight operations and ensuring compliance with safety regulations, stressing that such functions require sustained funding.
“The NCAA is the critical barrier between safe operations and unsafe ones. Aviation safety oversight is expensive because safety failure is far more expensive,” the statement said.
The association warned that the Authority is already operating under severe financial strain, affecting inspections, surveillance activities and staff welfare.
“It is increasingly difficult to adequately fund critical safety oversight activities. Inspectors are owed substantial duty tour allowances, while various staff entitlements remain unpaid because available funds are no longer sufficient to meet operational requirements,” it noted.
NAAPE further disclosed that the NCAA had lost more than 60 inspectors and other specialised personnel in the past five years due to poor remuneration and better opportunities elsewhere.
“Without competitive remuneration, experienced inspectors leave. Without experienced inspectors, effective oversight weakens. When oversight weakens, safety risks inevitably increase,” it warned.
The union also expressed concern over persistent airline indebtedness arising from the non-remittance of Ticket Sales Charges collected from passengers, describing it as the real source of the funding challenges affecting aviation agencies.
Rather than reducing the NCAA’s allocation, NAAPE urged the Federal Government to recover outstanding debts from airlines and strengthen enforcement mechanisms to ensure prompt remittance of statutory charges.
“Recovering these outstanding debts would provide much-needed relief to all beneficiary agencies without undermining the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s primary safety regulator,” it said.
The association maintained that Nigeria’s recent 91.4 per cent score in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme reflected the strength of the NCAA’s oversight capability, warning that weakening the regulator could erode international confidence in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
It also cautioned that the proposal could have implications for Nigeria’s standing under the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s International Aviation Safety Assessment programme, which evaluates the capacity of national aviation regulators.
NAAPE called on lawmakers to reject the proposed funding reduction and instead consider increasing the NCAA’s statutory allocation to about 65 per cent to reflect its expanding oversight responsibilities.
“The solution to the financial challenges facing Nigeria’s aviation industry is not to cripple the regulator. It is to strengthen the regulator, recover outstanding statutory revenues and preserve the financial autonomy that ICAO regards as indispensable for effective safety oversight,” the association stated.
It added, “A nation that weakens its safety regulator weakens the safety of its skies. Nigeria must not make that mistake.”
