Day: July 10, 2024

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has said it would sanction airlines engaged in deceitful departure time scheduling.

The Acting Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo made the assertion in a statement by the Director, Public Affairs/Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on Tuesday.

The NCAA warned the airlines to desist from the infraction or face dire regulatory actions.

‘The NCAA now runs a zero-tolerance approach to regulatory infractions.

‘Ease of doing business is the crux of the D-G’s action plan for the NCAA. In line with that action plan, he has made processes for licensing easy for operators.

‘The time to secure AOC is now shorter and less cumbersome than it used to be in the past. The NCAA therefore expects reciprocity from airlines. Chief of which is world-class services to passengers,’ he

Najomo was quoted as saying that, if the NCAA was enabling a business friendly environment for operators, then the operators must satisfy the passengers with superior services.

‘It has
come to our notice that some airlines are being reported for advertising deceitful departure times. The NCAA regulation says no airline shall display deceitful passenger departure time at its counter, advert material or on its’ website.

‘We want to make it very clear that the D-GCA has directed monitoring and offenders will face serious regulatory actions,’ Najomo said.

He further stated that the Authority believes in safety, discipline, and economic regulation which is evident in the recent suspension of 10 Permits for Non Commercial Flights (PHCF) holders for failing to comply with the recertification advisory issued in April 2024.

Speaking on the ease of doing business environment at the NCAA, Najomo said the ease of business is an area the Authority would continue to improve.

‘This is evident in our high score on the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC) ranking. Recently our sister agency scored 96 per cent but the NCAA scored 98.5 per cent which is an extremely high score.

‘This is buildin
g from the commendable score of 71.04 per cent the NCAA scored during this year’s ICAO Security Audit.

‘The numbers are improving and we will continue to do what we can to make the industry safer, and more secure for passengers and stakeholders,’ he assured.

On the difficulty in refund processes by airlines, Najomo said all refunds by airlines must be done devoid of undue delays and the process should conclude in 14 working days regardless of the mode of purchase of the tickets.

On the suspension of PHCF licenses of 10 operators, he explained that they were advised since April 2024, to commence the process for recertification but they refused to comply this they left the Authority with no option than to sanction them.

Najomo also cleared the air on the misconceptions and misinformation in a recent publication alleging that the law surrounding the suspension of 10 PHCFs were not in vogue among other accusations.

Describing the allegations, which he believed to be done in ignorance or mischief as fluid and
unfounded, Najomo explained the Authority’s actions using the Civil Aviation Act 2022.

He said that the action taken by NCAA was part of its mandate to ensure compliance with the civil aviation law establishing it and the attendant regulations.

In order to sanitize the sector, NCAA re-affirmed its stance to rid the industry of illegal charter operators who might have inspired the publication.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Senate has called for improved budgetary provision for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The upper chamber said that the N22.40 billion for the commission’s 2024 budget was inadequate given the important role the commission plays in the nation’s prosperity.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Sen. Osita Izunaso, made the call on Tuesday when the Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, appeared before the committee to defend the commission’s 2024 budget.

Izunaso expressed dissatisfaction that the budget was too small to enable the commission carry out its statutory functions.

‘The SEC is regulating a lot things. The budget is too small. Something has to be done. You have to regulate cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency alone should be able to give you a lot of money,’ he said.

Izunaso also tasked the commission on financial literacy calling on the management to provide an item in the budget to deal with financial literacy.

‘There should be an item in the budget to deal
with financial literacy because Nigerians need to be informed.

‘You are aware that people have lost confidence in the capital market, in stock because of what happened in the past.

‘So, there is the need to regain that confidence. Financial literacy is extremely important,’ Izunaso said.

Agama while giving the budget estimate said that the commission had a budgetary estimate of N22.40billion for the 2024 fiscal year.

He said that out of the figure, N11.72 billion was for the total staff cost, while N1.22 billion would be for retirees’ funds scheme.

‘N6.74 billion is for other recurrent expenditure, while capital expenditure was projected at N1.18 billon,’ he said.

He said that the total expenditure stood at N20.85 billion, while surplus and deficit was N1.55 billion.

Agama note that the commission in 2023, attempted to improve its revenue base with the introduction of various strategies to shore up funds.

He said the commission had in the last two years attempted to reduce its staff strength.

Agama
said that ‘we are very top-heavy at SEC.’

‘We hardly have the middle level staff to do some of the desk work that we ordinarily should do.

‘We have a staff strength of 353 in a commission that takes care of over 200 million persons. That is grossly inadequate for us to be able to do our work very well.

‘It is our desire to be able to improve on that staff level by providing enough desk offices that will work round the clock to make sure that the investors are properly taken care of,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The National Boundary Commission (NBC) has called for stronger cooperation from the States and Local Governments to strengthen interstate boundary management in the country.

Mr Adamu Adaji, the Director-General of the commission, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday .

Adaji particularly stressed the need to prioritise the establishment of functional state and local governments’ boundary committees.

He explained that the National Boundary Commissions Act, 2006 provided for the establishment of a boundary commission at the federal level, State Boundary Committee at the state level and Local Government Boundary Committee at local level.

He said that the three tiers of boundary management structure were supposed to work as a system to be able to drive the process of boundary management.

He noted the deficiencies in the constitution of functional boundary committees at the state and local government levels.

This, according to him, is partly responsible for
the slow pace of progress in addressing boundary disputes and strengthening boundary management.

‘For the state boundary committees, we can say about half of the 36 states have constituted, but not much has been achieved at the local government level.

‘With the engagements we are making with the states now, we’re beginning to underscore the importance of constituting a functional local boundary committee.

‘This is because, for every boundary issue, a committee is involved and that committee can be identified as a component of a particular local government before it gets to a state,’ Adaji said.

The D-G said that the local boundary committee, if constituted, would handle boundary issues at the local government level, assemble necessary facts, documents, community positions and transmit to the State Boundary committee.

He further said: ‘The State Boundary Committee will now aggregate the submissions from the local governments to establish a state position.

‘This is so because, for any interstate boundary
issue, there may be many local boundary committees that are involved.

‘So, if the local government boundary committees are properly structured and made functional, they will contribute towards enhancing the positions of the states vis-à-vis the submissions to the national boundary commission.

‘This will at least ensure collective management and resolution of interstate boundary disputes.’

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

OSHAKATI: The Erongo Regional Council has refuted allegations that expired tins of fish intended for distribution to the underprivileged, were thrown away.

The regional council was responding to a video circulating on social media showing tins of fish intended for the drought relief programme in Karibib being discarded.

Senior public relations officer Susan ||Hoebes in a statement on Wednesday said the fish will only expire in 2026 and this can be confirmed by comparison with fish from the same consignment left in the warehouse for distribution.

||Hoebes indicated that the 127 tins of fish in question were damaged during handling by a forklift, which is a normal logistic occurrence in any commodity handling process.

She explained that when this happens, a certified health inspector is called in to inspect the products, determine the extent of the damage and declare the damaged products as not fit for consumption. The products are then removed to prevent any possible contamination as a precautionary measur
e.

‘This is not the first time such a drastic measure has been taken and it does not mean the products have expired,’ she added.

||Hoebes stated that the shared video is confusing to beneficiaries as it indirectly insinuates that the government is feeding them expired food, which is not true.

She stated that although they encourage members of the public to report any anomaly observed during food distribution, they equally advise that they refrain from politicising drought relief food assistance and sharing wrong information that could spread fear and confusion amongst beneficiaries.

||Hoebes indicated that the council remains committed to a proper drought relief food assistance distribution process.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency