Oduah
Domestic
airlines have announced that they will no longer remit charges to
aviation agencies until the sector is rid of corruption.
The carriers, under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, said the decision took effect from November 1, 2013.
In a statement on Sunday, the spokesman
of the group, Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, complained that heavy charges were
being imposed on the airline operators by the aviation agencies.
He added that despite this, there was a
lot of corruption in the system, citing the latest armoured car scandal
involving the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah.
Tukur said, “Due to the ongoing crisis,
we have resolved to stop all remittances payable to the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority, the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, the Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria and other relevant aviation bodies, as the
numerous charges have the potential to cripple our operations.
“This will continue pending the time
they reform or come clean on the taxes and charges they have collected,
which ran into several billions of naira in a couple of years. They also
need a reform to comply with the global practices and standards.
“The suspension of payment of taxes and
charges took effect from November 1, 2013, and we call on the Federal
Government and all concerned to set up an investigative panel to resolve
these anomalies.”
The aviation industry has lately been
embroiled in controversy over the propriety of new tariffs imposed by
the NCAA on non-scheduled commercial airline operators among other
charges that have made it difficult for them to cope.
Tukur added that the airlines were in
dire straits occasioned by the imposition of security charges, landing
and parking charges, remittance of five per cent taxes on every ticket
sold, fuel tax, multiple navigational charges, airport taxes, and
expensive office spaces, among others.
The carriers expressed disappointment
with the obsolete infrastructure at the nation’s airports and the
malfunctioning navigational tools, which they said had contributed to
numerous crashes in Nigeria.
Tukur said the association was studying
the involvement of two of its members in the reported bulletproof car
scandal, noting that they might be sanctioned if found culpable.
PUNCH
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