Nigeria: After N120bn revenue loss, FG moves against private jet owners

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo (SAN) Thursday disclosed that the federal government has lost over N120 billion in revenue due to the illegal activities of the private jet owners, regulatory loopholes and, weak enforcement in the last one decade. The minister, who disclosed this at the ministerial press briefing series in Abuja, said the federal government would crack down on illegal private jet operators in Nigeria by implementing stricter regulations to ensure compliance with aviation laws. He said: “One of the hydra-headed monsters that we met when we came and we have decided to tackle it head on is the issue of using private jets for all kinds of illegal activities.

They have been largely unmanned, unchecked and they just operate the way they like. “Beyond that, they also deny the federal government of revenue. This has been happening for the past 40 to 50 years.



When I came they said ‘ministers don’t bother, they are the big men who own Nigeria, you can’t tackle them and we are losing revenue’. “In fact, the taskforce we set up said the federal government has lost N120billion in the last one decade on illegal charter operations.” Explaining how the private jet owners short-changed Nigeria, he said: “These licenses come with significantly different fees.

The PNCF license is much cheaper because it is meant for private use—flying company directors, family members, or personal business trips. But if you want to operate commercial flights carrying passengers for a fee, you must obtain a different, more expensive license.” “These private jets are being used for business operations daily, defrauding the government of revenue.

Even worse, some apply to fly out of the country on charter flights without proper documentation. In many cases, authorities do not even have a full manifest of passengers or what is being transported. This is a serious security threat,” the minister further added.

Keyamo recalled instances of challenges faced identifying victims of private jet air crash owing to poor documentation practices. Consequent upon this, a taskforce was set up and “at one point, they even suggested shutting down the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), which serves private charter flights, for a complete security overhaul. While we cannot shut down the commercial section, we are reviewing their recommendations to implement necessary reforms without disrupting passenger movement.

” Keyamo assured Nigerians that the government remains committed to enforcing aviation regulations, because “the President has given us a free hand to address this problem. Regardless of who is affected, we will ensure the law is followed.” “Henceforth, the control tower will not clear any aircraft to fly without the pilot filing the manifest of passengers on board.

Whether you are a ‘big man’ or not, the tower will not clear you for take-off unless passengers have presented their identity cards,” he further stated. The minister also said “Nigeria currently has 16 active private airlines servicing domestic, regional, and international routes. “Moving forward, the government aims to facilitate more codeshare agreements between Nigerian airlines and major international carriers, fostering a stronger and more competitive aviation sector.

” The minister also announced that Nigeria has successfully mended its strained relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), leading to the resumption of Emirates Airlines flights between both nations. He explained that the suspension of these flights, which lasted for a prolonged period, was a major consequence of deteriorated diplomatic ties inherited by the current administration. “By July last year, negotiations had reached an advanced stage, and on October 1, Emirates flights officially resumed operations,” he said.

According to Keyamo, this milestone was achieved through the signing of a new Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), ensuring mutual benefits for both countries. Beyond the restoration of flights, Keyamo emphasised that the Nigerian government prioritised the protection and growth of its local airline industry. “As part of the negotiations, Emirates has entered into a codeshare agreement with a Nigerian airline, Air Peace, to enhance connectivity and operational efficiency.

“Under this arrangement, passengers can purchase a single ticket from Calabar to Dubai, seamlessly connecting from an Air Peace flight in Lagos to an Emirates flight bound for Dubai. The same process applies for return trips, making travel more convenient for Nigerian passengers,” he said. Keyamo highlighted that this agreement marks a strategic step toward supporting Nigeria’s aviation sector.

“Unlike other African nations where national carriers receive state subsidies—such as Rwanda Air, Egypt Air, and South African Airways—Nigeria’s aviation industry is 100% privately driven. “Recognising this unique dynamic, the government is actively pursuing policies that support local operators without direct financial intervention,” he said. Keyamo also noted that infrastructure improvements within Nigeria’s aviation industry had gained momentum, as “the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has spearheaded the refurbishment of several terminals nationwide.

” Notably, he stated that the government successfully refurbished and reopened many Hajj terminals across the country, enhancing the experience for Muslim pilgrims traveling for Hajj. The minister noted that this year, further rehabilitation and expansion of these terminals would be carried out. Also taking his turn at the briefing,Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was working round the clock to ensure Nigerians were provided with quality education under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Alausa also said Nigeria had many universities, both private and public, and that attention should be paid to provision of quality infrastructure in the schools, instead of demand for the establishment of more universities. He said the ministry was working with different partners to ensure 10 million Nigerians were returned to school, lamenting that Nigeria presently had 15 million out-of-school children. “I’ll talk about the challenges and strategies put in place and the gains we’ve made quickly in the last several months that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over the leadership of the country.

We all know our president is fervent and benevolent believer in human capital development. When you talk about human capital development, you are talking about education, health and social protection. “When the president was campaigning all over the country, he spoke to Nigerians directly and told them ‘I’ll be honest with you, I’ll take difficult decisions but those decisions that I will take it’s not for now but for posterity, for the future of your children and the future of your grandchildren’.

When you have a leader making decisions like that based on the future of your children and your grandchildren, you can be 100 percent assured that those are right decisions. “That’s what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done and now we’re all seeing the results of those difficult decisions. The light is at the end of the tunnel.

We’re seeing it clearly and I can assure you the tunnel is now getting shorter and shorter. We’re getting to Eldorado. “Now, I’ll talk about education, the several challenges that we met.

Some of these numbers are now better. Today, we have about 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 5 and 14 years old. Out of this 60 million Nigerians, 45 million of them are learning poor who cannot read age-appropriate text at the age of 10.

“We also have an unbelievable record of having the second highest number of children that are out of school in the world. We need to know our problems to clearly and meticulously address these problems. These 15 million people that are out of school, 50 per cent of them have never been to school.

25 percent of them are dropouts and 25 percent of them are Almajiris. “We have a strategy now to take numeracy, literacy and vocational skills to these Nigerians. Also looking at the girl child female population, we have 20 million adolescent girls today in Nigeria between the ages of 12 and 19.

Six million of those young Nigerians are out of school. Today, we have clear strategies on how to address all these challenges that are placed before Nigerians,” he said. Continuing, Alausa said: “With regards to out-of-school children, we have targets of moving 10 million citizens, Nigerians, from the street to school.

We have a clear strategy on how we’re going to do that. Today, we’re lucky we now have an agency, National Commission for Nigerians and Out-of-School Children Commission. There has been a lot of planning and design, not just to make policy, but also to operate.

So we’re moving more resources to this agency. “Also, we’re collaborating more with other agencies that have anything to do with our school. We now have a ministerial committee that was set up with me as the chairman, and the Minister of State, as the Vice Chairman, and with the ES of UBEC, ES of Almajiri Commission, ES of Nomadic Education.

We’re meeting and we’re actively looking at our interventions and seeing where our results are going, what we need to change and what we need to intervene.”.