Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Keyamo, admits corruption in aviation sector, weeks after WAW reports

Nigeria’s aviation minister, Festus Keyamo has admitted that the Nigerian Aviation Regulators, including the NCAA, are corrupt giving room for irregularities and compromise especially in permitting passengers to fly unfit planes.

When asked during his interview with Channels TV on Thursday night why unfit airlines are cleared to fly with passengers in Nigeria, Keyamo cited corruption.

Unfortunately, I’ll have to say that there is deep complicity in the aviation sector. You will also see regulators, who are supposed to be public servants, buying houses and driving big cars, because they are endangering the lives of Nigerians by cutting corners and falsifying reports, Keyamo said.

He added, “The truth of the matter is that there is falsification of reports in the system. Falsification of checks they do, falsification of training they do. It is a system of corruption we are fighting, and we are going to bring down that system. This system is one of the most corrupt I’ve seen because people bypass regulations.”

He revealed that most of the regulating officers do not fly some airlines because of corruption.

“Most of them (corrupt regulators) don’t fly those airlines. After compromising, they will tell their relatives not to fly that airline because they know the health status of those airlines. But innocent passengers (Nigerians) will fly them.”

Despite several reports that proved past and ongoing irregularities in the aviation sector, Keyamo’s statement only came after a Dana aircraft skidded off the runway at the local wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on April 23rd, 2024.

A similar case of faulty landing gear by Ibom Airlines was reported on April 25th, 2024, by a passenger who narrated how they narrowly escaped what would have been another aircraft disaster.

Meanwhile, Keyamo had issued a directive to suspend Dana Airlines’ Air Operators Certificate on April 24, though, it was opposed by the Aviation Safety Roundtable Initiative (ART) which urged him “to concentrate on policy issues that positively impact the airline industry” and not interfere in the non-negotiable autonomy of the NCAA as stated in Section 4 (3) of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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