NCAA boss clarifies issues on coming universal safety oversight audits

The forthcoming International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) slated for the first quarter of 2022 is not the same as Annexes nine and 17 of the international body, Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has clarified.

According to the NCAA DG, while ICAO Annex nine is on facilitation, Annex 17 contains Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) concerned with the security of international air transport and is amended regularly to address the evolving threat.

Speaking on the forthcoming safety audit, Nuhu insisted that the safety audit had nothing to do with either facilitation or security audits, but admitted that some teething challenges needed to be addressed in the country’s aviation industry.

The USOAP audit, he said was 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 its compliance with the provisions of ICAO Convention.

Nuhu explained that security had its own separate audit, stressing that Nigeria performed well in the last security audit conducted in the sector by ICAO.

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He recalled that in the last ICAO Security Audit (USOAP-CMA) of Nigeria in the Effective Implementation (EI), Nigeria Scored 96.4 per cent and the country received ICAO Council President Award Certificate for its performance.

Nuhu explained further that the USOAP-CMA Audit (security audit) is now scheduled for the third quarter of 2022, stressing that NCAA’s aspirational Effective Implementation (EI) score for the USOAP-CMA Audit is 90 per cent while he insisted that all hands were on deck to ensure this becomes a reality.

“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 is 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.”