The Nigerian government has clarified that it has not yet acted against 60 private jets operating in the country without paying import duties amounting to several billion naira.
According to Nigeria Customs Service spokesperson Abdullahi Maiwada, the delay is due to ongoing court cases. Maiwada shared this information on Tuesday while addressing inquiries about the verification process for private jet owners.
In October, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) extended the verification exercise for private jet owners by one month, setting a new deadline of November 14, 2024.
However, despite the deadline passing, the NCS has not taken any enforcement action against private jet owners who remain non-compliant.
Maiwada explained that the delay in grounding the private jets is due to ongoing court cases.
He stated that revealing details could interfere with these legal processes, which is why the public cannot be updated at this time.
He stated, “We do not want to disrupt the investigations or the process’s outcome.”
It’s worth recalling that in June 2024, the NCS ordered nearly 80 privately owned aircraft in Nigeria to provide their import documents or risk being grounded.
In November 2022, reports surfaced that owners of foreign-registered private jets, including prominent business figures, leading commercial banks, and wealthy Nigerians, took legal action against the federal government to prevent the grounding of their planes, alleging non-payment of import duties on the jets.
