Ime Akpan
Director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Musa Nuhu has given a clarification on the forthcoming International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) slated for the first quarter of 2022.
Speaking in an interview with journalists, the director audit said the USOAP) is not the same as ICAO’s Annexes 9 and 17.
He explained that Annex 9 is on facilitation, while Annex 17 contains Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). He said the Annex 17 is concerned with the security of international air transport and it is amended regularly to address the evolving threat.
He also stated that USOAP audit is an activity during which ICAO assesses the effective implementation of the critical elements (CEs) of a safety oversight system and conducts a systematic and objective review of a State’s safety oversight system to verify the status of a its compliance with the provisions of ICAO Convention.
He added the safety audit has nothing to do with either facilitation or security audits.
However, Nuhu admitted that some teething challenges needed to be addressed in the country’s aviation industry.
He said security has its own separate audit, stressing that Nigeria performed well in the last security audit conducted by ICAO.
Nuhu recalled that in the last USOAP-CMA of Nigeria – the Effective Implementation (EI), Nigeria Scored 96.4 per cent and the country received ICAO Council President Award Certificate for its performance.
He further said the USOAP-CMA Audit (security) had been scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.
The director general stressed that NCAA’s EI score for the USOAP-CMA Audit is 90 per cent and called on all hands to be on deck to ensure its success.
“NCAA will step up its oversight function and collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to ensure continued improvement in aviation security and facilitation. Security Audit is different from safety audit. What we are doing now is quite different from security audit and it’s not related to facilitation. I understand facilitation is good for passengers, but, it has nothing to do with the current audit.
“The last security audit we had, Nigeria scored 96.4 per cent and because of this performance, Nigeria received ICAO Council President Award Certificate for its performance.
“Yes, I accept we have some challenges in the industry, just like in the other countries around the world. However, to say Nigeria is not ready for audit is a misnomer. Someone is saying we are not ready for two issues that are not part of the forthcoming audit. I think that is wrong,” he added.
In an earlier interview, the director general assured that the agency had prepared adequately for the USOAP
