The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has denied allegations that it is defrauding aviation agencies over N19 billion in debts.
The body was reacting to news making the rounds that the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has “accused airlines of defrauding government aviation agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the NCAA and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) of over N19billion Naira while converting same to ‘personal use.’”
In a statement the AON explained: “The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) wishes to state its very strong reservations for such accusations and we deny very strongly that our members are defrauding or defrauded government agencies of the said amount or any amount for that matter.
“Airline Operations, worldwide, is not a cash and carry business. Every airline in the world owes debts which are settled as their operations go on. Nigeria is not an exception.
“It is true that some of our members have very bad debts but not all our members owe such debts. The owing of debts in itself does not amount to fraud. We frown very strongly at the criminalisation of all Nigerian airlines as a result of the said debts.
“Various parties were present at a stakeholders’ meeting and the Director General of NCAA did not at any time use such words to describe Nigerian airlines.
“Rather, the meeting ended on an amicable note with everyone agreeing to work together to address the debts.
“It is pertinent to point out that some of these debts are owed by some airlines that are no longer in existence.
“We, however, advise our members with such bad debts to engage the agencies and put forward repayment plans.
“Airlines in Nigeria are operating under a very harsh environment and need all the support from everyone.”