NCAA Warns Against Cutting Ticket Sales Charge Share, Seeks Restoration to 65% Over ICAO Safety Concerns
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has urged the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation to reject any move that would further reduce its share of the 5 per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC), warning that such a decision could undermine Nigeria’s aviation safety oversight and jeopardise compliance with international standards.
Presenting the Authority’s position at a public hearing in Abuja on Wednesday on the proposed review of the allocation of the 5 per cent TSC and CSC, the Director-General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo, argued that while the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) deserved adequate funding, diverting more of the TSC from the NCAA would weaken the country’s independent aviation regulator at a time when the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has identified funding as one of Nigeria’s weakest areas.
The hearing forms part of the National Assembly’s ongoing review of the long-running dispute over the sharing formula of the TSC, a statutory levy paid by airline passengers and cargo users, which has remained a contentious issue among aviation agencies for years.
The debate has intensified in recent months, with NAMA seeking a larger share of the charge to support ageing infrastructure, while airline operators, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and several industry stakeholders have insisted that any review should align with ICAO’s global funding principles.
Najomo told lawmakers that the issue before the committee was “not about whether NAMA deserves adequate funding,” but rather about ensuring that Nigeria’s aviation funding framework remains consistent with international standards.
“This presentation is therefore not about whether NAMA deserves adequate funding, as it certainly does. Rather, it is about ensuring that the funding of Nigeria’s aviation institutions remains consistent with international standards and does not weaken the Authority responsible for regulating the entire aviation industry,” he said.
He reminded the committee that the NCAA serves as Nigeria’s State Safety Oversight Authority with responsibility for regulating airlines, airports, NAMA itself, maintenance organisations, training schools, aviation personnel and every certified aviation service provider operating within the country.
According to him, unlike operational agencies, the NCAA provides no commercial services but performs sovereign regulatory functions in the public interest.
“The Authority exists solely to ensure that every organisation operating within Nigeria’s aviation system complies with national regulations and the Standards and Recommended Practices of ICAO. The Authority is therefore the independent regulator upon which the safety of Nigeria’s civil aviation system depends.”
Najomo explained that this was the fundamental reason a dedicated TSC and CSC funding mechanism was created, stressing that global aviation policy supports funding safety regulators through contributions from the aviation community rather than relying solely on operators they supervise.
The NCAA boss disclosed that although Nigeria recently recorded one of its strongest performances in ICAO safety oversight assessments, funding of the regulator remained a major weakness.
According to him, Nigeria achieved an Effective Implementation (EI) score of 91.3 per cent following ICAO’s recent Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM), reflecting significant improvements in aviation safety oversight.
However, he revealed that the country’s score for financial resources supporting the State Safety Oversight System was only 50 per cent.
“We are pleased that Nigeria achieved an Effective Implementation score of 91.3 per cent. However, the assessment also identified a significant area of concern. Nigeria recorded its lowest Effective Implementation score, of only 50 per cent, in the area of financial resources supporting the State Safety Oversight System.
“It is therefore respectfully submitted that 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.”
Najomo further cited ICAO’s 2026-2028 Global Aviation Safety Plan, which identifies inadequate funding of safety oversight authorities as the foremost global organisational challenge affecting aviation safety worldwide.
He noted that ICAO expects member states to strengthen funding mechanisms so that by 2028 at least 70 per cent of countries attain satisfactory ratings in this critical area.
“If ICAO considers a global Effective Implementation score of 67.57 per cent to be inadequate and deserving of urgent international attention, then Nigeria’s score of only 50 per cent should be of even greater concern.”
Najomo also warned that inadequate funding was making it increasingly difficult for the NCAA to recruit and retain highly skilled aviation inspectors.
According to him, experienced personnel continue to leave the Authority for airlines, aircraft manufacturers, maintenance organisations, foreign aviation authorities and other organisations offering significantly better salaries and working conditions.
He said although the Authority’s Conditions of Service had recently been reviewed, the final approval fell far below recommendations, while implementation remained constrained by inadequate funding.
“The Authority continues to experience serious difficulties in recruiting and retaining the technical personnel required to effectively discharge Nigeria’s safety oversight responsibilities.
“Aircraft do not inspect themselves. Airlines do not regulate themselves. Air Navigation Service Providers do not oversight themselves. Every certification, every surveillance inspection and every regulatory approval depends upon competent and experienced aviation inspectors.”
He added that inspector duty tour allowances, surveillance programmes, certification activities and recurrent technical training were already being affected by funding constraints.
The NCAA chief argued that NAMA already enjoys several statutory commercial revenue streams independent of the TSC. He listed 16 income sources available to the agency, including overflight charges, domestic en-route charges, terminal navigation charges, aeronautical information sales, calibration fees, telecommunications services, consultancy, aerial operations, property leases and other commercial services.
According to him, these commercial activities account for about 75 per cent of NAMA’s total revenue, while the TSC contributes roughly 25 per cent. By contrast, he said approximately 83 per cent of NCAA’s income comes from the TSC, with only 17 per cent generated from regulatory fees.
“So even if, hypothetically speaking, NAMA is allocated the whole 100 per cent of the 5 per cent TSC, which of course would spell the end of the NCAA, it would still not cater for the financial demands NAMA is calling for.”
He maintained that reducing the regulator’s allocation would therefore have a far greater impact on aviation safety oversight than it would on NAMA’s operations.
Najomo anchored much of his submission on ICAO’s policy documents, particularly Doc 9082 on airport and air navigation charges, Doc 9161 on air navigation services economics, Doc 9734 on safety oversight and the 2026-2028 Global Aviation Safety Plan. He argued that ICAO deliberately prescribes different funding models for regulators and service providers.
According to him, while air navigation service providers recover operational costs from aircraft operators through user charges, civil aviation authorities require stable government-backed funding to discharge sovereign regulatory responsibilities.
“NAMA therefore should not be collecting any share of the TSC because TSC comes from passengers. The users of NAMA’s services are not the passengers but rather the aircraft operators.”
He added that ICAO policy even permits the cost of NCAA’s regulatory oversight of NAMA to be incorporated into NAMA’s own cost recovery framework from airlines.
Rather than reducing the regulator’s allocation, Najomo urged lawmakers to restore NCAA’s share of the TSC to 65 per cent, describing it as a return to the original funding philosophy that guided the establishment of the NCAA and NAMA in 1999.
“It is on this note that the NCAA respectfully requests that this honourable committee champions the return to the original vision that drove the establishment of the NCAA and NAMA in 1999. We submit that NCAA’s allocation of the 5 per cent TSC be restored to 65 per cent to overcome the deficiencies identified by ICAO at its last audit and bring Nigeria in line with global best funding practices.”
The NCAA’s submission comes amid intensified debate over the future of the TSC allocation. At the same public hearing, NAMA defended its demand for a larger share, arguing that rising infrastructure costs and the need to modernise Nigeria’s air navigation systems require increased and sustainable funding.
Earlier, the Airline Operators of Nigeria opposed diverting more of the TSC to NAMA, arguing that ICAO recommends air navigation service providers should recover operational costs directly from aircraft operators through user charges rather than passenger levies. The association also warned that weakening the NCAA could adversely affect safety oversight.
Similarly, aviation unions and professional bodies have called for a comprehensive review of the industry’s funding framework rather than a redistribution of existing statutory revenues, insisting that all aviation agencies require adequate resources to fulfil their mandates.
