The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu has said that the Civil Aviation Act 2022 would help strengthen the power of NCAA as regulatory agency, as it has removed encumbrance clauses that complicate the oversight function of the authority against the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
He said that since the enactment of Civil Aviation Act 2006, there have been significant changes in the industry.
“We have had new annexes in ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), new developments in terms of ICT, environments in the sector generally. In addition to that the service providers namely: NAMA and FAAN have some residual regulatory functions in them and those regulatory functions have been removed and moved to NCAA as the regulator of the industry to avoid conflict of interest. You cannot provide service and also regulate some of the services you provide. Those are the main things that we have in the new Civil Aviation Act 2022.
“Of course, there are other changes that are with the view to have a much efficient, effective air transportation industry and to make sure Nigeria complies with the new ICAO standards, new Annexes and international best practices,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently assented to Civil Aviation Act Bill. The Act repeals the Civil Aviation Act, No. 6, 2006 and enacts the Civil Aviation Act, 2022 to provide for an effective legal and institutional framework for the regulation of civil aviation in Nigeria in order to promote aviation safety and security, ensure that Nigeria’s obligations under international aviation agreements are implemented and consolidate the law relating to civil aviation regulation in Nigeria.
