Aviation unions urge Tinubu to scrap 40% IGR deduction

• The unions emphasized that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) functions primarily as a cost-recovery agency, not a revenue-generating one
  

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Aviation unions, including the National Union of Air Transport Employees and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, have jointly appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reconsider the imposition of a 40 per cent Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) remittance on aviation agencies.

Expressing deep concern over the financial strain resulting from this remittance, the unions highlighted the Federal Government’s decision in October 2022 to raise the mandatory contribution to the federation account by revenue-generating agencies from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.

Stakeholders within the sector have urged the government to review this policy, emphasizing its potentially adverse effects on the industry.

The unions emphasized that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) functions primarily as a cost-recovery agency, not a revenue-generating one.

They pointed out the waivers granted to other government agencies facing similar deductions, stressing that the NCAA should also be exempted.

Noting a misunderstanding about the regulatory body’s functions, NUATE Chairman Drisu Musa highlighted the National Assembly’s invitation to defend its budget to clarify its role.

He explained, ‘’The NCAA is not a revenue-generating agency and what we do is cost recovery. Aeronautical charges all over the world are not revenue. It is for the NCAA to run the affairs of the CAA in the interest of the safety of flight operations.

“They should remove us from the 40 per cent deductions. These 40 per cent deductions have affected our oversight functions and the well-being of our staff. Just as they have done in certain quarters, the NCAA should also be given that waiver.”

Musa added that the Single Treasury Account of the government was doing a lot of damage to the system and the NCAA should be removed.

‘If an operator wants to use a simulator facility abroad, they approach the NCAA and then charge them so that our inspectors can go. Unfortunately, as soon as they pay that money in, the TSA, 40 per cent of facilitating that journey is removed as they consider it revenue.

“We are appealing to the Federal Government under President Tinubu to remove the NCAA in the interest of the safety and security of flight operations from the TSA,” he said.