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By Chinelo Obogo
Aviation agencies have renewed their push for the Federal Government to waive the 50 percent deducted from source from its Internally Generated Revenue.
In October 2022, the Federal Government increased the mandatory remittance of agencies from 25% to 40%, this made agencies like the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and even the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) to relentlessly canvass for a waiver to enable them carry out functions more effectively.
By mid-2023, aviation unions joined in the appeal and began agitating for the agencies to be exempted from the deduction, writing to President Bola Tinubu requesting the cessation of the 40% IGR deduction. The appeals continued and intensified but the government didn’t grant their request, rather than grant a waiver, the government instead raised the deduction to 50% in January 2024. This prompted the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) to warn at the time that unions may resort to industrial action to compel the withdrawal of aviation agencies from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The appeal for a waiver continued at the Annual General Meeting of Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association which held this week in Abuja.
While delivering an address, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) Umar Farouk, said that NAMA must be candid about its challenges. He said their most significant constraint remains funding and that the scale of facility modernisation and the relentless cycle of statutory maintenance required to uphold the highest degree of safety and operational efficiency are capital-intensive.
“This challenge is significantly exacerbated by the deductions, at source, of between 30% and 50% made directly from NAMA’s Internally Generated Revenue. While we understand the fiscal pressures on the government, these deductions severely limit our capacity to undertake the comprehensive projects our airspace demands. Therefore, from this esteemed platform, I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to the Federal Government to graciously consider a waiver of these deductions.
“Such a gesture would be a game-changer for Nigerian aviation safety. It would allow NAMA to reinvest every naira of its earnings into critical infrastructure, cutting-edge technology, and the continued development of our human capital, the very “Human Edge” we are here to discuss. This is not just an appeal for NAMA, but an investment in the safety and efficiency of the entire national airspace,” he said.
