Import duty: Bank plane grounded as FG clamps down on private jets

The Nigerian Federal Government, through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has grounded a United States-registered Gulfstream G650ER jet owned by a leading Nigerian bank due to unpaid import duties amounting to an estimated N1.9 billion.

This action marks the start of a government crackdown on private jet owners who have not paid the required import duties, which collectively run into several billions of naira.

This development follows the NCS’s initiation of a one-month verification exercise for private jet owners in Nigeria, which commenced on June 19, 2024, and will conclude on July 19, 2024.

The exercise aims to identify and address cases of aircraft illegally imported into the country without the payment of import duties.

During a similar exercise in 2019, the NCS recovered approximately N2 billion for the government.

This year, at least 80 private jet owners are required to present their import documents and aircraft certificates of registration to Customs officials in Abuja.

Although the grounding of non-compliant private jets is scheduled to start after the verification period, some operators’ attempts to export their aircraft to evade the exercise have prompted the NCS to begin immediate clampdowns.

Reports indicate that several operators of foreign-registered private jets have been temporarily flying their aircraft out of Nigeria to avoid scrutiny.

In light of these developments, the NCS has taken pre-emptive measures by writing to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, requesting the cancellation of flight clearance approvals for the non-compliant private aircraft, including the luxury Gulfstream G650ER grounded at Lagos airport.

The Comptroller General, NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, had two weeks ago said a good number of private jets were leaving the country as the verification began.

Adeniyi, who disclosed this while speaking in an interview with Arise Television, stated that since the exercise started,  only a few owners have shown up.

“Very few of them (private jet operators) have showed up for verification and we gather intelligence that a good number of them are leaving Nigeria since the announcement was given because they would not want to be verified,” he said.

The CGC stated that the service introduced the private jet verification exercise because more private jets were operating outside the ambits of the law.

“We have seen so many of these aircraft flying and our record tends to show that only a few of them have shown up to pay duty and this is why we are bringing this verification up,” he said.

The CGC also stated that data obtained from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority revealed that though many private jets were operating in the country, only a few had paid customs duties.

“Recall this was not the first time we did it. We did something close to this in 2019 and the exercise fetched us as much as N2bn within the short time that we did it.

“We discovered that there are more private jets that are operating in Nigeria but have not been brought under the ambit of the law. So the data that we got from the NCAA shows that only very few of them paid customs duty to operate in Nigeria,” he stated.

According to the customs boss, the international aviation regulations show that private jets flying in the country are obliged to pay duty.

“If they are here for a brief period in the Nigerian airspace and return, they are not obliged to pay any duty; that is, if they are here on a temporary importation visit. But once they are here and are used within Nigeria, they are liable to pay duty,”

The CGC reiterated that the verification exercise was meant to confirm “aircraft operating within the ambit of the law and those that are operating outside the law.”

The CGC reiterated that the verification exercise was meant to confirm “aircraft operating within the ambit of the law and those that are operating outside the law.”

According to a Customs notice, private aircraft owners are expected to bring some documents for the verification exercise, namely aircraft Certificate of Registration, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s Flight Operation Compliance Certificate, NCAA’s Maintenance Compliance Certificate, NCAA’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flights, and Temporary Import Permit (if applicable).

The latest clampdowns on operators of improperly imported private jets came more than one year after the Federal Government suspended the action.