Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS) has reportedly sealed the offices of key managers at embattled Aero Contractors (N2, Lagos) after the airline allegedly failed to submit NGN350 million naira (USD843,202) in owed taxes, according to Nigerian news reports.
A source in the know told Nigerian Flight Deck the outstanding taxes weren’t current liabilities but related to the period before the airline was placed under the receivership of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in February 2016. AMCON spokesperson Jude Nwauzor was not immediately available for comment.
Nigerian Flight Deck said its reporter had found the offices of the managing director, the finance-, legal-, and human resources departments sealed after a debt review by FIRS. This had followed several letters by the tax regulator to the airline to which the carrier had allegedly failed to respond. Still, an unnamed source had told the newspaper the airline had paid NGN50 million (USD120,451) in taxes last year.
Aero Contractors management, in a statement last week, denied as “wild and unfounded” allegations by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN) that the airline was planning a 40% workforce cut and preparing to liquidate.
