| Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah |
The Federal Government on Wednesday approved the revised 2013 National Civil Aviation Policy despite serious objections by stakeholders in the sector.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, disclosed the approval to journalists at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.
He spoke alongside his counterparts in Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah; Transport, Senator Idris Umar; and Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Mrs. Olajumoke Akinjide
Maku said aviation was a strategic industry and that there had been instances where certain players in the sector did not commit themselves to obeying the rules in the industry.
He said, “We debated extensively a new National Civil Aviation Policy presented to council by the Minister of Aviation. The policy covers the whole hub of the aviation sector, including a proposal to start a new national carrier driven especially by the private sector with government providing policy support.
“The policy also included the enforcement of rules in this sector. We are convinced that the policy has tackled virtually all the key issues that are crying for support and for additional action in the aviation sector. We, therefore, approved this new revised national policy on aviation and the minister, in the next couple of months, will implement the policy with all the key actors in the industry.”
Airline operators in the country had early this month expressed their grievances against the policy at an interactive meeting organised by the Ministry of Aviation for owners/operators of foreign and Nigerian registered aircraft in Abuja.
According to the operators, the new policy has a lot of contradictions that need to be addressed.
They wondered why the ministry would unveil such a policy without getting detailed inputs from informed stakeholders.
However, the Aviation minister maintained at the briefing that even though Nigeria had almost 100 private jets, there was no law guiding how they should operate.
According to her, private jet owners are not paying what they ought to pay to the government and that is part of what the new policy aims to address.
Oduah said, “The major highlights were in general aviation. When we talk about general aviation, we are talking about private jets. As of today, we have about 100 of them but we have no law, no policy and no regulation to make sure that they are operating the way they should operate within ICAO laws and our aviation policy.
“The question is not of taking advantage, it is a question of doing the right thing. Are they paying what they are supposed to pay? The response is no, they are not; but we want to make sure that they do pay what they are supposed to pay.
“These are part of what the policy is addressing. We want to make sure that private jets are private jets and commercial jets are commercial jets, and each will operate within the boxes they are meant to operate. So, we don’t want to overcharge anyone, we don’t want to undercharge, we want to do what is global standard.”
The Punch