Allegations of regulatory evasion have plagued Nigeria’s private charter aviation industry for years, especially with regard to foreign-registered aircraft imported into the nation under Temporary Import Permits (TIPs).
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which is in charge of collecting import charges, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which is tasked with regulating air operations, are at odds and at the center of the debate. NCAA regulations have given operators operational flexibility, even as Customs maintains a tight adherence to duty payments under the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA). Operators are now abusing the resulting grey area by taking advantage of gaps to evade compliance.
The Temporary Importation Law
Importers are permitted to enter Nigeria under “temporary admission” under Section 12 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) 2004 as long as the items are converted to “home use” or reexported within a certain time frame with the relevant duty paid. According to the legislation, if the goods—in this case, an aircraft—remain in Nigeria after the predetermined amount of time, the import duty will become due.
Customs policy has generally permitted temporary entrance for aircraft for a maximum of 12 months, with extensions possible in 6-month increments but not exceeding two years. After paying the import tariff, the aircraft must either be exported or regularized for “home use.”
However, this law has frequently been broken in Nigeria’s aviation industry. Some aircraft have been in the country since 2008, continuing to operate in the lucrative charter market without paying customs duty, even though they should have been re-exported or regularized years ago.
The Role of the NCAA
Conversely, the NCAA’s Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015, Part 18, Section 18.3.4) permit foreign-registered aircraft to operate under specific circumstances, as long as they are in compliance with NCAA’s operational control and possess valid certifications of airworthiness. This has given operators the legal justification to fly aircraft registered outside of Nigeria without having to deal with the customs issue.
A vacuum that is ready to be exploited has been created by this difference: NCAA allowing foreign-registered operations while Customs demands import duties. Operators contend that because they already pay NCAA costs for landing, parking, and flight navigation, Customs’ demand is “double taxation.”
TopBrass Aviation CEO Captain Roland Iyayi provides a viewpoint that unites the opposing viewpoints. “What an aircraft owner or operator pays to the NCAA or other agencies are for services,” he clarified. Customs is requesting import duty. Similar to how duty is paid independently from roadworthiness or license costs when importing a car, the same is true with airplanes. The law is on the side of customs.
Iyayi disclosed that although some operators were first granted a respite after Customs sealed their aircraft, not all of them had fulfilled their commitments to regularize.
Two years are allotted for temporary admittance. The majority of the individuals in question have been in the nation since 2008. They are aware of their game. Some even challenged Customs in court, arguing that they were exempt due to ICAO conventions. However, private aviation is not ICAO’s responsibility; it is commercial aviation. The courts determined that those arguments lacked merit.
AC NCS’s National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, explained the organization’s position: “If privately owned aircraft are imported on temporary admission, there is a specified period for them to remain in the country.” After that, duty must be paid and they must either be reexported or converted for domestic use. There is no issue if you import your aircraft on temporary admission and then return it after ninety days. However, you have to regularize if you stay too long. That’s the law.
Although Customs does not maintain an accurate public count of aircraft that have been overstayed, Maiwada emphasized that investigations are still being conducted.
“A product of trying to find out the number of aircraft that have overstayed without regularization,” he said, was the problem.
The problem, according to Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd.), a former commander of Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, is indicative of Nigeria’s poor regulatory alignment.
“If you bring in a foreign-registered aircraft that is operating in Nigeria, it’s like bringing in a foreign-registered vehicle you intend to keep here,” he said, pointing to obvious shortcomings. After a certain period, you have to export it or re-register it. Foreign-registered aircraft have been operating locally for years without re-registration, which is illegal and irregular.
“These were not happening before,” Ojikutu said, accusing political involvement of skewing the enforcement process. Why are they occurring at this time? It is against the law to bring in a foreign-registered aircraft that is domiciled here without re-registration. The NCAA needs to be explicit. Foreign-registered aircraft continuing to fly local routes indefinitely is, in my opinion, illegal.
Measures Taken by Customs Enforcement
Customs hasn’t always been passive. An enforcement attempt chronology highlights how bad the problem is:
About 60 foreign-registered aircraft would be grounded due to unpaid duties, according to NCS’s June 2024 announcement. In order to verify, operators were called to Abuja.
July 2024: Demand notifications were sent out, and the exercise was extended to more than 80 aircraft.
August 2024: Following high-level efforts, Customs maintained duty demands while easing grounding.
June 2025: Customs reports that 86 operators submitted paperwork, of whom 57 were cleared and 29 were subject to duty. A few of others did not appear.
Notwithstanding these actions, enforcement has been erratic, with protracted talks and political meddling impeding prompt action.
NCAA And Customs: An Uncomfortable Intersection
This story revolves around an institutional conflict. According to the Customs and Excise Management Act, an airplane entering Nigeria is only an imported commodity. It is no longer “temporary” in any significant sense once it is used commercially in Nigeria; duty must be paid before it can be imported for domestic use.
The airplane is essentially an operational issue for the NCAA. The NCAA alone determines who is permitted to transport people for hire or reward and grants air operator’s certificates, air transport licenses, and permits for non-commercial flights. According to this viewpoint, a foreign-registered aircraft may operate on charter routes lawfully as long as it possesses the appropriate NCAA permits.
It’s obvious where they diverge. The NCAA maintains that only it has the authority to decide whether commercial operations are allowed, while Customs insists on charges. Operators have discovered a lot of room to maneuver in between.
According to one aviation specialist, “this is not just about safety or operational approval.” It has to do with economic justice. While some local operators fly around endlessly on temporary permits, you cannot have them pay import duties in billions. The playing field is not level there.
Taking Advantage of the Grey Areas
Operators are now skilled in taking advantage of the gaps between these two regimes. Some repeatedly renew their TIPs, thereby converting a temporary measure into an authorization that lasts for several years. Others covertly operate profitable charters while declaring aircraft for private or demonstration use. Even when their Customs paperwork is questionable, some rely on NCAA approvals to assert validity.
However, charter operators protect themselves. An operator from Lagos, who wished to remain anonymous, countered: “It’s not that we don’t want to comply. However, the NCAA grants us approvals, the procedure for complete importation is confusing, and the duties are quite hefty. The stances of NCAA and Customs must coincide. We are currently trapped in the middle.
The approach is political as well as regulatory. Lawyers and connections are frequently used by wealthy owners to stall or slacken enforcement. Customs has occasionally been compelled to engage in negotiations or had its seizures contested in court, resulting in periods during which the aircraft can continue to operate and make money. The agreement appears to be unfair competition to local charter operators that have correctly imported aircraft, paid full customs, and put up with the registration process.
Calculating the Expense
The financial cost to the Federal Government is significant. Customs determines charges and taxes on aircraft, which are among the most valuable imports, at a rate of 12 to 15 percent of the Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value. That could be more than $5 million on a $25 million plane, or around N8 billion at the present exchange rate. The amounts quickly reach tens of billions of naira when multiplied by the number of jets.
In addition to revenue, regulatory integrity is a concern. Trust in law enforcement is damaged if an airplane is allowed to remain on the tarmac in Lagos or Abuja for years while using a permit intended for short-term usage. Concerns about safety and recourse also apply to travelers. It may be more difficult to determine who is responsible for a mishap involving a jet operating on the edge of legality than it would be for an aircraft registered in Niger.
Crackdowns here and there won’t be enough to close these gaps. Experts recommend that Customs and the NCAA work together more closely. The exact moment when an aircraft’s use transitions from temporary to commercial, resulting in duty requirements, could be specified in a memorandum of understanding. Transparency would be increased and silent rollovers would be avoided with a centralized TIP registry that is available to both agencies. Proportionate penalties and quicker dispute resolution would guarantee equitable and efficient enforcement.
