ABUJA — THE Federal Government has commenced action on the review of its civil aviation laws to meet with international standards.
A committee which was instituted in June to review the laws had presented a draft copy of the bill to the Minister of Aviation, Malam Isa Yuguda.
Speaking on the occasion, Yuguda said that government decided to review the laws to make them consistent with international laws and regulations.
“Our aviation laws have not been reviewed for a long time and that inform the reason why we are making efforts to review it since Nigeria is a key player in the aviation industry in Africa,” he said.
He said that government also took the decision to harmonise the laws governing the aviation industry in order to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) category 1 standard.
The existing laws contradicts the powers vested on the Minister of Aviation and NCAA on the regulation of the sector.
The minister said the bill would seek to amend the Civil Aviation Act of 1964 to incorporate current International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations and new challenges in the industry.
He also said that the bill would domesticate all international air law instruments on aviation, as well as review all legislations in the aviation industry to conform with Civil Aviation Policy of 2001.
It would further review the respective acts establishing the NCAA, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).
Yuguda expressed the hope that when passed into law it would pave way for the country to attain the long awaited U.S. Category 1 classification.
He said that government was committed to refocusing the aviation sector to ensure security and safety of the country’s airspace and other air service operations.
Earlier, the Chairman of the nine-member committee, Dr Segun Demurem, had said the draft bill was a robust attempt to modernise the Civil Aviation Act and bring it in line with ICAO’s requirements.
Demurem said the bill, when passed into law by the National Assembly, would enable the country to meet up with international standards.
NAN learnt that the bill was meant to reform and reposition the country’s aviation industry to meet up with new challenges.
The Civil Aviation Bill 2004 covers issues on the control of air navigation, control of air transport undertakings and licensing and the provision of aerodromes and control of land for aviation purposes.
Others include special provisions on trespass, nuisance, salvage, patents, disciplinary measures and regulation of air navigation.
