Import Duty: ‘Why Customs gave 30-day extension for private jet owners’

There is no end in sight to the controversy between the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and private jet owners over payment of import duties, Daily Trust can report.

Our correspondent gathered that the extension of the verification exercise by the NCS followed the demand of the affected operators who stormed the customs headquarters on Monday, pleading to be given a one-month deadline to source the money.

Spokesperson for the NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, had in a statement released in Abuja on Monday said the extension provides an additional window for operators of privately owned aircraft to comply with necessary regulations and fulfill their obligations.

Maiwada emphasised the NCS’s commitment to ensuring all illegally imported aircraft meet legal requirements, promoting transparency and accountability in the aviation sector.

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He encouraged aircraft operators to utilise the extended period to avoid sanctions resulting from non-compliance after the deadline.

It would be recalled that the customs had initially sought the cooperation of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to ground the defaulting aircraft.

Following the order, it was learnt that some of the “wealthy owners” of the private jets reached out to the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, to seek an extension of one month “to allow them put money together to pay.”

Daily Trust learnt that while a tier-one bank had paid over N5b as duty, another popular billionaire in Nigeria had also paid for one of his jets while he is on the verge of paying the required duty for another jet in use.

“So, the operators met with the CGC and begged for a one-month extension to enable them to put the money together to pay. So that is where we are right now,” he said.

The highly placed source who sought anonymity said the customs is aware of the move by some of the “highly placed” owners of the jets to seek the presidency’s intervention towards waiving the duty.

“But I can tell you there is no waiver. They can’t be talking about waivers. The fact of the matter is that they are liable to pay duties.

Commercial aircraft are paying duties except they are on TIP (temporary import permit). There can’t be any difference,” the source said.

It would be recalled that some charter service operators had faulted the customs for insisting on the payment of the duty, saying it would amount to double taxation.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quits Aviation Services Limited, Chief Sam Iwuajoku, who operates the biggest business aviation terminal in Nigeria had told This Day that the federal government was already generating income from foreign registered aircraft operating in Nigeria.

He disclosed that aircraft registered with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) under Flight Operators Clearance Certificate (FOCC) and Maintenance Clearance Certificate (MCC) pay $10, 000 to the agency every six months in dollars.

According to This Day report, Iwuajoku said each of these aircraft pays about $96, 000 monthly in charges and other expenses to the federal government.