… demands 65% TSC share to meet ICAO safety standards
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has asked the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation to restore its allocation from the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) to 65 per cent, warning that further reduction could weaken Nigeria’s aviation safety oversight system.
The Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo, made the demand at a public hearing on the proposed review of the allocation of the 5 per cent TSC and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Najomo said the NCAA’s position was not against adequate funding for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), but was aimed at ensuring that the funding structure of the country’s aviation agencies remained consistent with international standards and did not undermine the agency responsible for regulating the entire civil aviation industry.
He said the NCAA, as Nigeria’s State Safety Oversight Authority, is responsible for regulating, certifying, inspecting and continuously overseeing airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, maintenance organisations, training organisations, aviation personnel and other service providers.
Unlike operational agencies, Najomo noted, the NCAA does not provide commercial services, but performs sovereign regulatory functions in the public interest.
He therefore argued that adequate and sustainable funding was essential to enable the regulator discharge its responsibilities and meet Nigeria’s national and international aviation obligations.
According to him, the importance of the TSC to the NCAA’s operations was underscored by the Authority’s recent International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) assessment.
He disclosed that Nigeria achieved an overall Effective Implementation score of 91.3 per cent during ICAO’s recent Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM), but recorded only 50 per cent in the area of financial resources supporting the State Safety Oversight System.
Najomo warned that reducing the NCAA’s principal statutory source of funding at a time when ICAO had identified inadequate financial resources as an area requiring corrective action would be counterproductive.
“Reducing the Authority’s principal statutory source of funding at this time would amount to legislating against the very deficiency that ICAO has identified for corrective action’, he said.
The NCAA boss also cited the 2026–2028 ICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan, which identifies inadequate financial resources for safety oversight authorities and a shortage of qualified technical personnel among major global organisational challenges affecting aviation safety.
He said the situation was already affecting the NCAA’s ability to recruit and retain highly skilled personnel, with experienced inspectors leaving for airlines, maintenance organisations, aircraft manufacturers and foreign civil aviation authorities offering better remuneration and working conditions.
Najomo said inadequate funding had also affected inspector training, surveillance activities, certification programmes and the payment of some Inspector Duty Tour Allowances.
“Aircraft do not inspect themselves. Airlines do not regulate themselves. Air Navigation Service Providers, such as NAMA, do not oversight themselves”, he told the lawmakers.
“Every certification, every surveillance inspection and every regulatory approval depends upon competent and experienced aviation inspectors”.
The NCAA Director General argued that the funding structure of the regulator should be distinguished from that of NAMA, which provides operational air navigation services and has several commercial revenue streams established by law.
According to him, NAMA has at least 16 revenue streams, including international and domestic en-route charges, terminal navigation charges, aeronautical information sales, calibration fees, obstacle evaluation fees, telecommunications services, air traffic services at private and state aerodromes, consultancy services and property-related income.
He said available financial information indicated that NAMA’s commercial and operational activities accounted for approximately 75 per cent of its total revenue, while the controversial 5 per cent TSC accounted for about 25 per cent.
For the NCAA, however, Najomo said the TSC represented approximately 83 per cent of its funding, with other regulatory fees accounting for the remaining 17 per cent.
He consequently argued that a further reduction in the NCAA’s share would have a disproportionately greater effect on the financial sustainability of the country’s safety regulator than on NAMA’s operational funding.
Najomo also relied on ICAO’s policies on charges for airports and air navigation services, arguing that air navigation service providers were expected to recover their operational costs principally from aircraft operators that use their services rather than passengers.
He said additional resources required by NAMA should therefore be pursued through the optimisation of its existing statutory revenue streams, improved commercial efficiency and, where necessary, targeted government funding for strategic capital projects.
The NCAA DG stressed that the Authority was not opposed to strengthening any aviation agency, insisting that all agencies should be adequately funded to perform their statutory functions.
However, he urged the lawmakers to consider the potential safety implications of altering the existing TSC allocation.
Najomo specifically requested that the Committee restore the NCAA’s share of the 5 per cent TSC to 65 per cent, saying this would help address deficiencies identified during ICAO’s latest audit and bring Nigeria closer to international best practices.
He said aviation safety depended not only on legislation but also on competent inspectors, effective surveillance, continuous certification, recurrent technical training, international cooperation and a financially independent regulator.
“The proposal before this distinguished Committee should therefore be considered not merely as a redistribution of statutory revenue, but in terms of its potential impact on Nigeria’s ability to sustain an effective State Safety Oversight System consistent with the Standards and Recommended Practices of ICAO and to safeguard the travelling public”, he said.
Alternative sharp headlines:
NCAA Seeks 65% TSC Share, Warns Against Weakening Safety Oversight
NCAA to Reps: Restore 65% TSC Share to Protect Aviation Safety