Nigeria’s government sent its wealthy elite scrambling for their checkbooks on Monday when it threatened to clip their mostly N-registered wings. The country imposed import duties in 2023 on the 60 or so mostly large-cabin foreign-registered bizjets favored by its oil and banking moguls. So far, most of them have ignored the law, but after an audit in June and July the government gave the aircraft owners until Oct. 14 to pay up or have their planes grounded. It’s not clear how they would be prevented from flying.
The ultimatum seems to have had the desired effect. The newspaper Punch is reporting that many of them have contacted the government to make payment arrangements on what would appear to be hefty duties. Punch is reporting that the Nigerian government expects to reap 260 billion Naira in duties, which even at the 0.00061 exchange rate works out to $159 million USD.
