The Federal Government through the Nigerian Customs Service has initiated a new initiative to crack down on owners of private aircraft that are illegally imported into the nation.,
As a result, no less than eighty private jet operators are anticipated to show up with their aircraft import documents at the NCS headquarters in Abuja, according to The Punch.
According to a notification released by Customs, the special aircraft import verification exercise is scheduled to start on Wednesday (tomorrow) and last for 30 days.
The notice, 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.”
In the notice, it is stated that those who own and operate private aircraft within the nation must present certain necessary documentation.
These consist of the registration certificate for the aircraft, the flight operation compliance certificate from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the maintenance compliance certificate from the NCAA, the permit for non-commercial flights from the NCAA, and the temporary import permit, if applicable.
The latest plan to crack down on owners of privately owned aircraft that were improperly imported came Over a year after the Federal Government halted the operation
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.
Instead of paying the required import duty on their imported aircraft, several private aircraft operators in the nation are alleged of taken advantage of technical flaws in the law to fraudulently get a Temporary Import Permit from the Nigeria Customs Service.
The TIP, which is valid for an initial period of 12 months, can be extended by six months twice, according to the regulations.
Nonetheless, a few private aircraft operators within the nation have persisted in extending the TIP indefinitely, a behavior that has led the Customs to implement previous crackdowns.
A top official close to the verification exercise who pleaded anonymity said “Based on the data we have, we are expecting no fewer than 80 private aircraft operators for the verification exercise. These include operators of about 20 private aircraft that have been imported since the last verification exercise.”
The exercise is anticipated to result in the obligatory import duty being paid; if payment is not made, aircraft operators risk having their aircraft grounded.
