The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has expressed dismay at the lack of inputs from industry stakeholders to develop upon the 2013 Civil Aviation Policy.
The regulatory body through the Director General Civil Aviation, Captain Musa Nuhu made this known during a session with the media to explain the four major reasons behind the Civil Aviation Act 2022 review.
On the Civil Aviation Policy, the DG-CA was disappointed at the poor response to the All Operators Letter (AOL) sent to the industry calling for contributions that would guide regulations, stating that of media, pilots, engineers, managers, airlines, ground handlers and other industry players contributions actually came from outside the industry stressing that civil aviation cannot develop with that attitude.
“We complain that it is not working but people have been given the opportunity for comments and inputs from the industry and the response has been poor and when I say poor, I mean extremely poor. Only one or two airline have contributed to this and yet we keep complaining that there are issues and most people are not carried along,” Nuhu said.
He said, “The Ministry through the NCAA has sent out a notice to the industry for review of the 2013 Civil Aviation Policy and it offers the opportunity for the entire industry to make their input to develop a civil aviation policy that would guide regulation of the industry.
“The Civil Aviation Policy is very important and is a collaborative decision making and cooperation with the entire industry. Everyone is expected to be involved. We sent an AOL for the policy for comments and inputs. We keep complaining that there are issues and most people are not carried along.
“ We need the coverage so people can contribute to the development of the civil aviation policy which is the guideline on how we run the industry, what is important, what is principal. We will collect this and collate it in a document, there will be a stakeholders conference review and we then seek approval so it becomes legally binding,” Nuhu said.
On the four reasons for the aggressive pursuit of the new Civil Aviation Act, NCAA Legal Adviser Mr. Ralia Shuaibu while responding at the behest of the DG-CA said they were meant to address findings of the audits, update the 2006 Act, make changes to laws and enable the CAA perform its functions optimally.
He said, “There are four main reasons for the New Act and number on is to address audit findings, the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) and Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) Cat-One audit findings. There are some findings particularly that of the Establishment Acts of the Service Provider agencies: Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) containing regulatory powers and functions and should not be so, since the CAA AIS the sole regulatory body.”
“Another reason is to update the 2006 Act to incorporate new things and implement them like the Advance Passengers Information (API), State safety Program and other.”
The third reason was, “to change the test of the law based on the experience over the years and fourth, to strengthen the regulatory authority to better perform its core regulatory functions in ensuring safety, security and efficiency in civil aviation in Nigeria by giving it a more robust legal framework in which to operate,” he said.