The Nigeria Airspace Management Agency and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority are locked in a quiet dispute over the sharing formula for the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge, sparking broader concerns about the future of Nigeria’s aviation industry.

A proposal before the National Assembly to increase the NAMA’s share of the statutory five per cent Ticket Sales Charge has become one of the most contentious issues in Nigeria’s aviation sector, according to The PUNCH.

While labour unions within the NCAA argue that reducing the regulator’s allocation could undermine safety oversight, industry experts and supporters of the bill contend that the debate must also recognise the significant operational responsibilities NAMA shoulders in ensuring the safe and efficient management of the country’s airspace.

At the heart of the controversy is a fundamental question: Does the current funding formula accurately reflect the responsibilities and financial demands of Nigeria’s air navigation service provider? A growing number of aviation professionals argue that it does not.

Unlike regulatory agencies whose primary functions centre on certification, inspections and compliance oversight, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency is responsible for operating the country’s air navigation infrastructure around the clock. Every aircraft flying into, through or out of Nigeria depends on its systems. From the filing of a flight plan to a safe landing, NAMA provides the essential air navigation services that keep aircraft safely guided, connected and adequately separated throughout the nation’s airspace.

Although largely invisible to passengers, NAMA’s operations are indispensable to commercial aviation. Without its services, air transport would effectively come to a standstill.

Modern air navigation extends far beyond radio communication between pilots and air traffic controllers. It now depends on an advanced network of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) technologies that require substantial capital investment, regular upgrades and continuous maintenance to ensure the safety and efficiency of flight operations.

Commenting on the issue, retired pilot and aviation stakeholder Mohammed Badamosi said the debate should begin with a realistic assessment of the responsibilities of each agency within the aviation sector. He noted that NAMA maintains a significantly larger workforce deployed across nearly every airport in the country, while the NCAA operates comparatively smaller regional offices.

Beyond personnel costs, Badamosi said NAMA bears the responsibility of acquiring, installing, calibrating and maintaining expensive air navigation equipment nationwide to ensure compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.

He added that NAMA is responsible for providing uninterrupted power to critical air navigation installations despite rising energy and diesel costs, while sustaining round-the-clock operations at airports and designated reporting points across the country. According to him, the rapid pace of technological advancement in air navigation systems also makes continuous training and retraining of personnel essential to maintaining operational efficiency and compliance with international standards.

“NAMA trains air traffic controllers, engineers and other technical professionals because technology is dynamic. If the agency fails to keep pace with global technological changes, Nigeria risks being isolated from the international aviation community,” he argued.

Badamosi therefore questioned the rationale behind the current allocation formula, which grants the NCAA approximately 56 per cent of the Ticket Sales Charge while allocating only 23 per cent to NAMA, despite the latter’s extensive operational responsibilities and infrastructure requirements.

“The revenue is generated largely from activities driven by NAMA’s operational environment, yet the agency receives a comparatively small share. The question is: what criteria produced the present formula?” he asked.

The Joint Action Committee of the NCAA, which opposes any reduction in the regulator’s share of the Ticket Sales Charge, recently argued that a more sustainable solution would be to commercialise or partially privatise NAMA. According to the committee, such a model would enable the agency to attract private investment, international financing, bond issuances and capital market funding to finance major technological upgrades, rather than relying predominantly on statutory allocations and government budgetary support.

According to available budget information, NAMA generates revenue from en-route and overflight charges, non-navigational services, and its statutory share of the Ticket Sales Charge. Additional income is derived from charter flight services, air traffic services at state-owned airports, calibration services, obstacle evaluation, aeronautical information publications and specialised pilgrimage operations.

Despite these revenue streams, many industry stakeholders argue that they are insufficient to meet the growing cost of modernising and maintaining the country’s air navigation infrastructure.

They contend that increasing NAMA’s share of the Ticket Sales Charge is not about favouring one agency over another, but about ensuring that Nigeria’s critical air navigation infrastructure does not deteriorate as a result of chronic underfunding.

Former Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd.), also supported calls for a more balanced review of the revenue-sharing formula, arguing that the current arrangement should more accurately reflect the operational responsibilities and financial obligations of the various aviation agencies.

He noted that while agencies such as the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau provide services beyond the aviation sector, both the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology also generate revenue through the discharge of their statutory mandates.

According to him, the debate should move beyond sentiment and instead focus on objective criteria such as workforce size, operational footprint, infrastructure ownership and the maintenance obligations of each agency.

“While the service charges of the NCAA are regulated by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, that is not the case with NAMA’s charges, which are largely guided by ICAO standards. These are important distinctions that should not be ignored in determining how industry revenues are shared.”

The retired Air Force officer urged policymakers to prioritise reforms that would accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s aviation industry rather than allowing political considerations to dictate institutional development.

Reflecting on his experience as a member of an International Air Transport Association team that visited Rwanda in 2013, Ojikutu recalled being surprised to learn that the country’s aviation security personnel had been trained by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, a development he said underscored Nigeria’s former leadership role in Africa’s aviation sector.

He said, “Let us help the industry in Nigeria to grow in development and progress alongside its contemporaries in Africa and globally. What I saw in Rwanda in 2013, when I was on an IATA assignment, shocked me. They received their aviation security training from Nigeria’s FAAN. That showed the potential we have.

“We still have a lot to do. Political interference must be reduced. Let the agencies have properly constituted management boards in line with the enabling laws so that professionalism, rather than politics, drives decision-making.”

Ojikutu expressed concern over what he described as the aviation industry’s slow pace of growth over the past two decades, arguing that while the number of airports has increased, this expansion has not been matched by sustained growth in passenger traffic, cargo volumes or the long-term viability of domestic airlines.