The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has canvassed for the intervention of the National Assembly to end the 50% revenue deduction and attain financial autonomy. The Managing Director of NAMA, Farouk Umar, who made this plea in his opening remarks at the ongoing 4-day retreat of the House Committee on Aviation in Abuja, maintained that “modernising Nigeria’s aviation sector cannot happen without financial reform.”

He called for the full enforcement of section 9(2) of the NAMA Act 2022, which stipulates that “all fees imposed by NAMA are not subject to deductions or remittance to any other body.”

The NAMA boss stated that the said enforcement 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) meet International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)’s stringent safety standards as well as deliver continuous service to airlines without interruption.

Umar 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.

He stressed that adherence to the provisions of Section 9 (2) of the NAMA Act would enable the agency to among other things, fund critical infrastructure, ensure regular maintenance and calibration of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) equipment to ensure compliance with ICAO standards, employ and train critical personnel and (d) invest in digitalization and innovation to remain competitive globally.