By Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in September, 2025 appealed to the National Assembly to help end the 50% revenue deduction, saying attainment of financial autonomy for the agency is neccessary.
Making the appeal during a 4-day retreat of the House Committee on Aviation, NAMA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Umar maintained that “modernizing Nigeria’s aviation sector cannot happen without financial reform.”
The retreat with the theme: “Emerging Trends in Global Aviation: Sustainability, Technology, and Digital Transformation,” is geared towards ensuring robust conversations with airspace management and legislative oversight to stakeholder engagement.
The NAMA boss, Farouk who advised that a full enforcement of section 9(2) of the NAMA Act 2022 which stipulates that “all fees and charges imposed by NAMA are not subject to deductions or remittance to any other body”, was neccessary to ensure autonomy.
According to the NAMA boss, enforcement of the act had become imperative to enable NAMA maintain critical infrastructure like towers, radars, and communication networks; pay and train thousands of skilled personnel who manage the skies daily; fund critical upgrades like Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) as well as meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s stringent safety standards as well as deliver continuous service to airlines without interruption.
Continuing, Farouk lamented that the current 50% deduction at source, which was not in conformity with the said NAMA Act cripples the agency’s capacity to meet its statutory responsibility, expand capacity, and deliver on international obligations.
Farouk therefore appealed for tadherence to the provisions of Section 9 (2) of the NAMA Act which will enable the agency to among other things, (a) fund critical infrastructure (b) ensure regular maintenance and calibration of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) equipment to ensure compliance with ICAO standards (c) employ and train critical personnel and (d) invest in digitalization and innovation to remain competitive globally.
He also solicited the Lawmakers intervention to ensure the implementation of the Obstruction Evaluation Fees Provision in section 18 (1) (a), (b) and (xii) of the same NAMA Act, 2022 which states that “there shall be established and maintained by the agency, a fund into which shall be paid and credited… (b) all fees and funds accruing from (xii) obstacle evaluation fees.”
Explaining further, Farouk said, the statutory provision unambiguously empowered NAMA to collect obstruction evaluation fees as part of its mandate to ensure the safety, efficiency, and regularity of Nigeria’s airspace, saying, “the current overlap of roles, where another aviation agency continued to exercise functions statutorily vested in NAMA constrained the agency’s capacity to harness this lawful revenue source.”
Farouk also appealed for a comprehensive review of the air navigation charges, which he stressed was stagnant since 2008, adding this review required urgent attention to reflect current economic realities and ensure true cost recovery.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Abdullahi Idris Garba said the National Assembly desired to develop actionable plans and reinforce priorities that would gurantee aviation safety, improve infrastructure and regulatory compliance.
While appealing to stakeholders to synergise towards addressing the challenges and also explore the many opportunities in the sector, Idris Garbap expressed hope that the retreat was capable of strengthening united efforts to advance the aviation sector in Nigeria.
