Abstract
The primary legislation governing civil aviation in Nigeria is the Civil Aviation Act of 2022, followed by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023, a subsidiary legislation. There is the debate whether the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace in Nigeria can suspend an airline from commercial operation in Nigeria on the ground of safety. This debate is heightened by the recent suspension of Dana Air and Arik Air respectively. The relevant of the debate is to determine the extent of the powers of the Honourable Minister over civil aviation, considering the technical nature of the aviation and the suspicion of that, a Minister’s decision might be politically influenced. This paper is an attempt to examine the position of the law with a view to clarifying the confusion. Sections 4(3), 26, 27 and 31(7) of the Civil Aviation Act 2022 (CAA) and Part 20 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023 (NCARs) in addition to the provisions of the Chicago Convention provide sufficient answer to the debate. The paper found that whereas the Honourable Minister supervises the aviation industry by the provision of government policies and frameworks, the power to suspend an airline from further operations is vested in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which is an agency under the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace. The paper among others recommends that the independence of the NCAA should be maintained in line with ICAO standards and to immune the aviation sector from political interference.