Effective Regulation of Aviation Sector will Improve Safety, Says NCAA
Chinedu Eze
The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has said that the agency would do everything possible to ensure that Nigeria retained its record of zero accident on schedule and general flight operations.
Nuhu also said that the NCAA would not make concessions in the enforcement of regulatory requirements or the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in the initial issuance and renewal of all Air Operators Certificate (AOC) irrespective of the personality or organisation involved.
He added that NCAA would continue to operate within its mandate to ensure safe, secure and efficient industry as enshrined in the 2006 Civil Aviation ACT.
The Director General of NCAA made this known on Monday while reacting to allegations leveled on the agency by Chief Operating Officer of Tropical Artic Logistics (TAL), Mr. Femi Adeniji, who accused the agency of delaying the reissuance of Air Operator Certificate (AOC) for the company.
Nuhu stated that the TAL fell short in meeting the requirements for the renewal of the AOC as it currently does not have three out of four key nominated post holders.
He said the missing key personnel include the Director of Maintenance, Director of Flight Operations and Chief Pilot.
In addition, he also said that the operator is yet to comply with COVID-19 Industry Restart Program that is mandatory for all industry players before they would receive approval to resume operations.
“The five Phases of the AOC process (both initial and renewal) is not peculiar to Nigeria as it is an ICAO requirement (ICAO Annex 6 Parts I and III and ICAO Document 8335), which is captured in Nig.CARS 2015 (Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations) Part 9 on AOC Certification.
“These strict regulations are to ensure only qualified applicants are granted the AOC. This is one of the main reasons Nigeria attained FAA IASA Category 1 (US Federal Aviation Administration’s International Aviation Safety Assessment Programme) in the first instance.
“Nig.CARS 2015 was established with the participation and consultation of all industry stakeholders and must be complied with to the full extent until such a time there is a review of the regulations. This is the reason the regulation was named the Nigerian Civil Regulations (Nig.CARS) rather than NCAA Regulations,” Nuhu explained.
