Aviation ministry, agencies face heat over accusation of incomplete data

…ask NCAA revisit draft policy on sanctions for airlines

The Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), led by Hadiza Bala Usman, the special adviser to the president on policy and coordination has expressed concerns with the Ministry and its agencies over their submission of incomplete information, which hinders the independent assessment of progress towards achieving certain deliverables.

The Special Adviser recommended that the Ministry and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) revisit the draft policy on sanctions for airlines.

She described this as critical given the increasing number of flight delays and cancellations and the impact on affected passengers. She further recommended a revision of the current target of 224 days for resolving customer complaints, describing it as unrealistic and in need of urgent recalibration to align with global best practices.

Usman disclosed this on Tuesday during her engagement with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to review the Q1–Q3 2024 Performance Assessment Report on the implementation of Presidential Priorities and Ministerial Deliverables.

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The first engagement of the day was held at the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, where the Special Adviser met with Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation; Ibrahim Kana, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry; Olubunmi Kuku, the Managing Director/CEO and other Heads of Departments and Agencies under the Ministry.

The Special Adviser commended the Minister and leadership of the Ministry for ensuring progress within the sector.

She also highlighted the Ministry’s shortcomings in stakeholder and customer engagement, a key deliverable that also requires urgent improvement.

Following the presentation of the Ministry’s performance scorecard for Q1–Q3 2024, the Minister expressed his appreciation to the Special Adviser for her diligent work and guidance.

Keyamo assured her that the Ministry would address the highlighted challenges and intensify efforts to improve performance and service delivery in the Aviation sector.

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.