…Says It Affects Agency’s Capacity To Maintain Towers, Communication networks, Radar
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA),Engr. Farouk Umar, has appealed to the National Assembly(NASS) to lift the 50 per cent revenue deduction that has hamstrung the agency’s ability to modernise the nation’s skies.
Umar spoke at the four‑day House Committee on Aviation retreat in the presence law makers , industry leaders, and aviation experts,.
Umar warned that Nigeria’s aviation renaissance cannot take off without a swift overhaul of the agency’s financing.
He cited Section 9(2) of the NAMA Act 2022, which declares that all fees and charges collected by the agency are exempt from any external deductions.
“The law is clear,” he said, “yet the 50 per cent levy imposed at source is eroding our capacity to maintain towers, radars and communication networks, to train the thousands of specialists who keep our airspace safe, and to fund the performance‑based navigation and satellite‑based augmentation systems required by ICAO.”
Umar narrated a story of an an agency caught between statutory mandate and fiscal constraint.
The current deduction, he said, violates the Act and cripples NAMA’s statutory duties, from expanding capacity to meeting international safety standards.
He urged the Committee to enforce the law, allowing the agency to channel funds into critical infrastructure, regular maintenance of communication‑navigation‑surveillance equipment, staff development and the digital innovations needed to keep Nigeria competitive on the global stage.
The plea extended beyond the deduction issue as Umar seek the full implementation of the “Obstruction Evaluation Fees” provision in Section 18(1) of the same Act, a revenue stream that remains untapped due to overlapping responsibilities with another aviation body.
He warned that the failure to collect these fees not only undermines safety oversight but also robs NAMA of a lawful source of income.
Umar called for an urgent review of air‑navigation charges, frozen since 2008, to reflect today’s economic realities and ensure genuine cost recovery.
The retreat, with the theme “Emerging Trends in Global Aviation: Sustainability, Technology, and Digital Transformation,” continued with the Committee Chairman, Abdullahi Idris Garba, pledging legislative support for actionable plans that boost safety, infrastructure and regulatory compliance.
As delegates moved into interactive sessions and stakeholder dialogues, the consensus was clear: without financial autonomy, Nigeria’s ambition to soar in the global aviation arena will remain grounded.
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