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NCAA To Sanction More Airlines Over Passengers’ Complaints
Sequel to series of complaints by air passengers against airlines, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has disclosed plans to sanction more airlines.
The agency recent undertook enforcement actions against several carriers for unresolved complaints and non-compliance with regulatory directives.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, had in a recent release confirmed that further sanctions are imminent.
“More airlines are going to be sanctioned shortly for similar offences. It is with the legal department at the moment, waiting to proceed to the DG’s desk for signing.
“What has been announced is not the sanction itself. It is the initiation of the enforcement action”, he noted.
Explaining the procedure, he said, “Now there’s a process to it. It’s my job to initiate these sanctions. Then we escalate it to the legal department.
“The legal department looks at it to ensure that we have no legal liability and that we are in order concerning the specific sanctions that I have listed, right? Then the DG will sign it. Now, it is when the DG signs it that it becomes an enforcement action”.
Speaking on the actions that have already been taken by the agency on sanctioning five airlines, he disclosed that many airlines have begun responding to the sanctions.
“Royal Air Maroc, I have summoned them to come to the office. Air Peace, of course, you heard the chairman himself acknowledged and accepted the sanctions. Aero Contractors has called in to say that they have already treated seven of the 11 cases for which we are sanctioning them”, he said.
Achimugu however emphasised that the enforcement process will continue for unresolved infractions.
“Even for those who have said, ‘Look, we have resolved this number out of the entire list, it means that there are still some that are unresolved. They will still be sanctioned for those.
“In any case, some of the infractions are that they did not respond to correspondence from the NCAA, which is in itself an infraction, sanction-able. So, they will definitely be sanctioned for that”, he said.
According to him, the sanctions are primarily monetary and do not impact the operations of the airlines.
“They are all still operating and flying, but the sanctions are mostly fines. They are monetary. It means that once you owe this person, you will pay the person. You will pay the fine as stipulated in the regulations.
“Every infraction comes with its own specific stipulated fine or punishment”, he noted.
Corlins Walter
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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.