AVIATION>> ‘Why Nigerian companies operate private jets with foreign registration’

Following revelations by the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler that 29 Nigerian organizations have 29 private jets registered in South Africa, the Federal Government has been tasked to explore avenues of blocking the haemorrhage and generate the required revenues from the companies.

Aviation analyst, rtd Group Capt. John Ojikutu blamed the development on what he called “faulty regulations”, saying the companies deliberately refused to change their registration to avoid some dues to the government.

During a function in Lagos, Fowler said, “As the Council Chairperson of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), I found out that Nigerian organizations have 29 private jets registered in South Africa. The issue is that, how much tax do they pay here?”

It was learnt that most of the private jets operating in Nigeria were not registered in the country but bear foreign registration.

In 2015, Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Muhktar Usman, had confirmed the development that out of 146 corporate jets in the country as at that time, only 46 were registered in Nigeria.

But Ojikutu in a chat with our correspondent said agencies of government like the NCAA, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) should collaborate to compel the companies to pay charges that are due to them.

According to him, government would be generating N10bn from each of them if the loopholes were blocked.