In its bid to recover billions of naira in unpaid import duties, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), is set to ground over 60 private jets owned by high-profile individuals and companies across the country.
According to politics Nigeria, the NCS has written to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to deny flight clearances until duties are paid.
The enforcement exercise which is expected to commence this Monday follows a thorough verification process conducted between June and July this yea.
The reports say the one-month verification exercise which aimed to identify improperly imported private aircraft without documentation and ensure maximum revenue collection, revealed that most private jets in the country have not paid import duties.
Findings indicate that private jets belonging to prominent business moguls, bank chairmen, and executives are among those to be grounded and majority of affected planes are foreign-registered private jets owned by Nigerians.
According to the source, some of the luxury aircraft on the list include Bombardier Challenger 604 CL-600-2B16, Bombardier Challenger 3500, Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000, Bombardier BD-700 Global 6500, Bombardier BD-700 Global 7500.
Each of the Bombardier BD-700 Global 7500 jets costs over $70 million, while the Global 6500 and 6000 versions cost over $50 million.
Eleven private jet owners have received notification of the grounding, while 55 others will receive their letters this Monday
There are indications that some operators who had unsuccessfully lobbied the Presidency to interfere have started settling the import duty.
The enforcement exercise is expected to generate a good amount of revenue for the government, with estimates suggesting over N260 billion.
