Team Leader of the four-man delegation from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP), Mr. Jean Claude Waffo has said that this current audit starting Monday is meant to access the state’s capabilities to oversee regulations as well as ensure compliance.
He made this known at the opening ceremony ICAO/USOAP.
Nigeria embarked on the ICAO audit in 2006 which the country scaled and according to Waffo, this current audit is meant to refresh and update the data ICAO has with it and see whether everything is being reflected and implemented as it should be.
Waffo emphasized that the audit was not about regulating the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) or the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) but is meant to carry out monitoring of what was done in 2006 and ensure that the country still meets its standard.
“We are going to refresh the data we have at the headquarters, we are assessing the capacity of the State to regulation the sector in compliance with ICAO, all the possible evidence and additional questions on site will be assessed.
“We are on continuous monitoring approach where we monitor the State based on the information they provide, if we have a finding during this exercise, we will continue to monitor it for the adjustment and classification of Nigeria”, he said.
Waffo was in company of three other auditors from ICAO, Mr. Seboseso Machobane, Mr. Thormdur Thormodsson and Mr. Ioan-Dorin Primac.
Speaking earlier, the Director General of the NCAA, Captain Muhtar Usman said that the USOAP Audits are usually focused on a state’s capabilities to provide a robust safety oversight system and that the world agency does this by assessing whether the state has effectively and consistently implemented the critical elements.
He said that the audit consists of three phases, the Pre-audit, onsite phase and the post audit.
“At the Pre-audit phase, the information provided by the NCAA in the State Aviation Activity Questionnaire (SAAQ), Protocol Questions (PQs), Compliance Checklist (CCs) Electronic Filing of Differences (EFOD) and Corrective Action Plan (CAP) have been reviewed by the Safety Oversight section of ICAO.”
“An analysis of our safety oversight establishment has been done including a review of the implementation of Annexes provisions and the difference from the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) that were identified in the SAAQ and CCs”
According to him, this process allows ICAO to tailor the audit in accordance with the level and complexity of aviation activities in the state and determine the duration of the audit and composition of the team.
Muktar further said that the audit is at the Onsite phase and that the team has come to Nigeria to authenticate information provided by Nigeria.
“Let me inform you that the Audit is at the On-site phase as we are witnessing today. During this phase, the state is visited by an ICAO audit team to validate the information provided by Nigeria. The team will therefore conduct an onsite audit of Nigeria’s system and overall capability for safety audit”
Muktar further said that the post –audit encompasses all the activities following the onsite audit. It includes the preparation of the audit interim report, the development by the state of its Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and the completion of the audit final report.
The four-man ICAO team will focus on Legislation (LEG), Organisation (ORG), Accident and Incident Investigation (AIG), Air Navigational Services (ANS) and Aerodrome and Ground Aids (AGA).
An earlier statement signed by Mr Sam Adurogboye, General Manager, Public Relations, of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Sunday in Lagos, said the auditors would focus on some critical areas during the audit.
“These are: Legislation (LEG), Organisation (ORG), Accident and Incident Investigation (AIG), Air Navigational Services (ANS) and Aerodrome and Ground Aids (AGA).
“The auditors who will be working with their Nigerian counterparts will also visit the NCAA Regional Offices and all the relevant service providers in the aviation industry.’’
According to the statement, the team will work in separate groups, based on specific assignments.
The statement further said that at the conclusion of the Audit, there would be a closing meeting where the draft audit result would be vetted.
ICAO is a specialised agency of the UN. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.
Its headquarters is located in Montreal, Canada and it has seven regional offices worldwide.
ICAO’s regional office in Western and Central Africa is in Dakar, Senegal.
The organisation elected a Nigerian, Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, by acclamation, as its Council President in 2013 and his three-year tenure would expire on Dec. 31, 2016.
The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its mandate includes flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation.
ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
