Nigeria recorded one of its most significant aviation policy achievements of 2024 when the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, signed a Cape Town Convention practice direction in September, resolving longstanding disputes over the enforcement of aircraft leasing rights in Nigerian courts. The reform addressed years of uncertainty that had made lessors wary of placing aircraft with Nigerian carriers.
The practice direction clarified procedures around the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation, a mechanism lessors rely on to reclaim aircraft in the event of default, and gave domestic airlines a clearer path to access dry-leased aircraft to expand fleets that had been constrained by high maintenance costs and foreign exchange scarcity. The reform earned Nigeria a score of 75.5 percent on the Cape Town Convention Compliance Index, placing the country in the "high compliance" category for the first time.
Removal From the Watch List
As a direct result of the improved compliance standing, Nigeria was removed from the global aviation watch list maintained by industry bodies tracking countries where aircraft leasing and repossession rights were considered unreliable. Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo pointed to the milestone as evidence that his ministry's engagement with the judiciary and the Aviation Working Group had produced concrete results within his first year in office.
Why It Mattered for Airlines
Industry analysts said the reform was likely to matter more for the long-term health of Nigerian aviation than new airport construction, since access to affordable leased aircraft had become one of the binding constraints on domestic carriers' ability to grow capacity. With fewer legal obstacles to leasing, airlines gained a clearer path to expanding fleets without the years-long negotiations that had previously discouraged lessors from doing business in Nigeria.