Tinubu removes NSIB from aviation ministry for direct oversight

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the repositioning of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) to report directly to the Presidency.

The approval, communicated through a State House correspondence dated March 5, 2026, and transmitted to the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development on March 11 for immediate implementation, also directs the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to amend the NSIB Establishment Act 2022 and forward the proposed changes to the National Assembly.

This development removes the Bureau from the supervision of the aviation ministry and places it within a governance structure closer to the centre of national policy oversight.

The NSIB was created under the NSIB Establishment Act 2022, replacing the former Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), which previously handled only aviation accident investigations.

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Following the establishment of the NSIB, the bureau’s investigation role was expanded to include probing into accidents and incidents in all modes of transportation.

With the NSIB taking shape as a multimodal accident investigation, there has been clamour to move the bureau from the Ministry of Aviation since its role now transcends the aviation industry.

The transition marked a significant shift in Nigeria’s transport safety philosophy. Rather than limiting accident investigation to the aviation sector, the new Bureau was mandated to investigate accidents across four major transport modes: aviation, marine, rail and tracked vehicle systems.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.