Air Peace CEO Allen Onyema sued by Lagos State over N94m tax bill

The Lagos State government has opened legal proceedings against Allen Onyema, chief executive of Air Peace, and his wife Alice Ojochide Onyema over alleged personal income tax liabilities.

In two separate suits filed in February before the Lagos Tax Appeal Tribunal, seen by The Africa Report, the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue alleges outstanding liabilities of N56.2m ($41,400) and N38.6m against the couple.

According to the state tax authority, the suits followed a pre-action notice issued in November 2025 over alleged unpaid taxes for the 2023 income year.

The authority said it had earlier issued demand notices in May and August 2025, after first notifying the Onyemas of the alleged liabilities in July 2024 and sending a follow-up reminder in June 2025.

In the 24 November notice, the authorities gave the couple 14 days to settle the sums in question.

“If you fail to offset this tax liability within the stipulated 14 days, we shall proceed to institute a petition in the High Court to recover the outstanding sum without further recourse,” the notice stated.

The filings described in the case suggest a sequence of assessment and demand notices followed by a pre-action warning before the state moved to the tribunal. The notice makes reference to a possible High Court recovery.

The state is seeking an order compelling the couple to pay a combined N94.8m, alongside claimed interest of 21% from 2025 until judgment, and 10% a year thereafter until liquidation.

It is also asking for an order of distraint over assets including goods, land and premises in an effort to recover the alleged debt.

In its filings, the tax authority argues that the couple’s alleged refusal to comply is depriving Lagos State of revenue needed for “infrastructural and socio-economic development”.

The next hearing in the case is due in Lagos on 26 March.

The great tax debate

The case lands at a sensitive moment for the aviation industry and for the wider debate over tax policy. In December, Onyema publicly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform agenda, warning that Nigerian airlines could collapse within months if the measures were implemented. He argued that multiple taxes and charges were already squeezing operators.

“The Nigerian airlines are heavily overburdened by taxes, levies, and all manner of charges. Just take a ticket of about 350,000″, said Onyema on 28 December, on Arise TV. “What comes to the airlines is about 81,000 Naira. And people, everybody’s talking about the airlines as if they’re making a kill. It’s not true.”

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority rejected that argument, saying fare increases could not be explained simply by tax levels. “If high taxes were responsible for fares of N150,000 to N200,000, why did tickets rise to as much as N500,000 for a 45-minute flight when those taxes had not increased?” the regulator said.

Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013. His wife serves as vice-chairman of the airline.

Questions on this case were put to Onyema by The Africa Report. He referred us to his legal representative, who said he was advising Onyema not to comment. (The Africa Report)