Import duty: FG grants private jets owners 30-day extension

The federal government has rescinded its decision to ground 60 private jets owned by various individuals in Nigeria over unpaid import duty running into several billions of naira.

A report by THE PUNCH said on Monday that the government, through a directive from the Nigeria Customs Service to the Nigeria Airspace Management Authority, was expected to have grounded the defaulting jets.

There are reports that duties are not being paid on the majority of private jets currently in the country, with the NCS seeking to recover unpaid import duties running into several billions of naira.

The development reportedly led the NCS to carry out a one-month verification exercise on all private jet owners in the country between June and July

The latest decision to ground the private jets is coming almost three months after the NCS verification exercise.

But in an exclusive chat with the acting Managing Director of NAMA, Umar Farouk, he said the jets are yet to be grounded because the NCS sent the agency a new letter requesting another 30-day window for the debtors to clear their import duties.

“We were supposed to ground the jets today (Monday) but we got another letter from customs requesting that the action be suspended for another month, maybe that is to allow for settlement,” Farouk stated.

Also, a statement signed by the spokesperson of the NCS, Abdullah Maiwada, and sent to The PUNCH, confirmed the acting MD’s position, saying the customer service had extended the verification exercise by a month.

Maiwada said the extension was to further engage operators who had expressed willingness to regularise their import duties.

“The Nigeria Customs Service wishes to inform the general public, particularly operators of privately-owned aircraft, that the verification exercise for the recovery of import duties on illegally imported private aircraft has been extended by one month, from Monday, October 14, 2024, to Thursday, November 14, 2024,” the NCS stated.