FG working to eliminate multiple taxation in aviation sector, says Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, says the federal government is working to eliminate multiple taxation in the aviation sector.

Speaking on Arise News Night on Tuesday, Keyamo said a committee is working on the process.

The minister noted that President Bola Tinubu is “big on addressing the issue”, saying a solution would be implemented soon.

Keyamo said the problem existed before the current administration, adding that while he is working to address issues in the aviation sector, tax-related matters are referred to the minister of finance.

In addition to multiple taxation, the lack of capacity of private operators is another factor affecting prices, he said.

“The lack of capacity was also leading to shortage of aircrafts,” Keyamo said.

“Not only shortage of aircraft, even if they have access to aircraft, you have old aircraft coming to the country. I’m sure you see many Nigerians complain about the type of aircraft that they enter into the country.

“Let me explain that to Nigerians: the reason that was happening is that the world lacked confidence in the Nigerian judicial system and the aviation system. They felt that if they brought their equipment here, their equipment were not safe enough.

“In the past, Nigerians were used to taking these aircraft, bringing them to Nigeria, and then it was difficult for these leasers to take their aircraft back. All the aircraft you see flying in Nigeria, perhaps only two percent are fully owned, [while] 98 percent of them are leased.

“We have repeated this 100 times on this show, that the biggest airlines in the world do not own aircraft. It’s difficult; they lease their aircraft, so Nigeria is not an exception.

“But for you to now have access to the best aircraft in the world, like for example, the new ones they’re just bringing out, or the ones are not too old, these are seen as very expensive. They will take it to a place, a jurisdiction, where they have confidence that if there’s a default, they can easily get their aircraft out.

“If they don’t have too much confidence in your system, you will see these old aircraft. So we’re not in the top tier in terms of access to such.

“We are now number one in Africa. Before, we were 49 point, because these leasers and financiers follow what they call the rating of countries. You are rated by the Aviation Working Group in terms of your credibility and access, ease of doing business in your country by foreign investors [and] financiers.”

‘NIGERIA NOW BEST IN AFRICA FOR AIRCRAFT LEASE’

Keyamo said Nigeria has become the best country in Africa for aircraft leasing, acknowleding the efforts of the administration in improving the country’s aviation ecosystem.

“Before we came to office, before President Bola came to office, we were 49.5 percent officially,” he said.

“When we came to office and we attacked these problems by the practice direction of the Cape Town Convention that we signed, and of course on the Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorization, they call it IDERA, we moved up to 75.5 percent, which is officially the highest in Africa.

“In fact, our jurisdiction is the best in Africa now in terms of aircraft leasing and all of that. We would have started seeing the results as in yesterday, but all over the world, there’s a shortage of aircraft because the manufacturers have too much orders on the line.”

The minister said the emergence of Comac, China’s equivalent of Boeing and Airbus, will shake up the industry, noting that significant changes in aircraft availability are expected soon.