…Say process flawed
By Chinelo Obogo
Aviation unions have called on President Bola Tinubu to cancel the ongoing concession process of airports across the country.
Speaking on Wednesday at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters in Lagos during a congress, the union leaders said any concession negotiation that doesn’t involve workers is deceitful.
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The President of the National Association of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Ben Nnabue, who addressed workers, called for a restart of the concession process and for bids by interested organisations in a transparent manner.
“They should start afresh so that Nigerians that want to participate in the ownership of the airport will participate,” he said.
Nnabue called for the resolution of all labour issues before delving into concession, adding that labour demands are not being attended to while the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has already announced that he has gotten approval to concession the Enugu airport.
“We just want the world to know that before any concession can take effect, labour issues must be discussed and handled,” he said.
He then described the process as flawed, saying: “The airport belongs to Nigerians. It’s a Federal Government structure or institution. So you cannot, at midnight, decide on who to give the airport to without declaring it open to all Nigerians.
So we are demanding that they will cancel the concession process, advertise for the concession globally.”
According to Nnabue, this will ensure that all interested parties will bid for the concession. “We have also requested that to cherry-pick the airport is not the best.
Because the rate value picked from one airport is used to better another airport,” he said.
Also addressing the workers, the President General of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Alale Adedayo, condemned the concession and called for the reversal of the process and to make it more transparent.
“Let there be advertisements in the papers for at least six months so that anybody that wants to bid will come, sit around the table with the staff and consider the staff welfare. Our members are not part of the committee. They pushed us aside and before you know it, they rushed down to the FEC and got their approval,” he said.
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