The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has suspended the grounding of about 60 foreign registered private jets operating in the country over alleged default on import duty payment and opted for dialogue.

Customs had earlier grounded the aircrafts at the Lagos and Abuja airports. But barely 24 hours after it sealed off facilities housing these airplanes, the agency gave a go-ahead for the aircrafts to resume operations.

A circular to the operators, dated June 4, 2025, signed by the Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) C.K. Niagwan, on behalf of the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), indicated that the “temporary unsealing” of the grounded aircraft received the approval of the CGC to prepare for engagement between Customs and aircraft operators.

According to the NCS, the temporary unsealing of the aircraft was to allow the operators the chance to present all relevant documents regarding the affected aircraft and engage the service to discuss and agree on appropriate modalities for the settlement of outstanding duties and taxes.

The circular reiterated that the unsealing was solely for the purpose of facilitating compliance, adding that this did not constitute a waiver of any statutory obligations.

Reacting to the development, the former Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, commended Customs for the unsealing of the aircraft fleet.

Nuhu told the media that grounding of the aircraft would discourage foreign investment, especially in the aviation industry.

He explained that President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, have been working diligently to bring development to the country in the last two years, insisting that such an action would make nonsense of their efforts.

According to him, insistence on the payment of import duty by the customs would amount to multiple payments by the operators. He emphasised that the operators already pay landing and overflight permits to respective government agencies in the Nigerian aviation industry.

“The unsealing of the grounded aircraft is a positive development by the customs. When you start sealing aircraft, it will work against the works of the federal government and the minister who have been working assiduously to encourage foreign investors to the country and this sector in particular.

“Such an action of the Customs sends wrong signals to foreign investors. They will lose confidence in the country and the industry. They will conclude that their money is not safe and their equipment is not also saved in the country.

“Payment of import duty is not clearly reflected in the Civil Aviation regulations. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations encourage foreigners to invest in Nigeria, but when you start imposing another burden on them, they will be discouraged.

“These people pay money to the government, some of them pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the government monthly as their operating costs in terms of landing fee, overflight permit and other charges and if you ground them, it’s like you are making N1 and losing N3,” Nuhu said.

He also noted that the import duty on foreign registered aircraft must be backed with a legal framework, adding that the service must discuss with the operators and the NCAA on how to permanently resolve the recurring issue.

“If there is any need for the payment, Customs needs to show them what they need to do and they need to work with the civil aviation authority in some of these things,” he further explained.

In response to the incessant demands of import duties by Customs, operators of private jets said the federal government already earns from the foreign registered aircraft revenues that are way more than the import duties the Customs was requesting from them.

The operators also said the federal government was already generating income from the foreign registered aircraft that operate in Nigeria.

The operators said 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 and each of these aircraft pays about $96, 000 monthly in charges and other expenses to the federal government. (THISDAY)