AIB now NSIB as FG repeals Act 2006, body now investigates multi-modal transport accidents
The Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) has become a multi-modal transport Accident Investigation Agency as it can now investigate serious incidents and accidents in the aviation industry, maritime, rail and road following the repeal of the AIB Act.
The body is now the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) following the new NSIB Act 2022 which earlier in the week was assented to by President Muhammed Buhari while the Supreme Court gazetted it on November 28, 2022.
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) Bill is meant to enhance investigations into the causal effects of accidents of various modes of transportation including rail and maritime in a bid to provide recommendations the nation can learn from.
The AIB-N through its Commissioner Engineer, Akin Olateru while vigorously pursuing the Bill had explained to the Senate that if passed into Law that creating a multimodal transport accident investigation agency separate from regulators and service providers would provide technically accurate, appropriate and timely information that the transport mode can implement to prevent accidents.
Olateru had in 2020 in a presentation to the Senate Committee on Aviation at a public hearing said the world over, multimodal has become the future of transportation accident investigation.
According to him, like air accidents, other models will be thoroughly investigated without the intention of apportioning blame.
Olateru said, “Multimodal is widely accepted as the future of Transport Accident Investigation and the transition has always been made from the extant air accident investigating agency.
“It has become expedient that the provision of Section 29 of the Civil Aviation Act (CAA) be reviewed to establish the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) in a separate Act to bring it up to speed with contemporary global best practices, to create a multimodal bureau of investigation for air, rail and maritime accidents.
“The purpose of the NSIB is to enable the is not intended for apportioning blame, but to provide technically accurate, appropriate and timely information which can be used to implement measures to prevent re occurrences and potentially mitigate the damages caused by such accidents.”
