Aviation Roadmap: Stakeholders Kick against Airport Concession Project

Chinedu Eze

Stakeholders in the aviation sector, especially members of the aviation unions have expressed fears over the perceived failure of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s aviation roadmap programme.

They are therefore resisting the airport concession project, while calling for a complete stop of the project.  

According to them, the federal government may have failed in accomplishing two major projects in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s aviation roadmap programme, which are the national carrier and the concession of terminal facilities at the major airports in the country, like the Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano airports.

The unions have insisted that the concession has failed less than two months to the end of the Buhari’s administration, adding that they have decided to stand against the project because of the opaque process and seeming lack of sincerity.

The Secretary General of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Ocheme Aba told THISDAY on Wednesday in a telephone interview that the decision of the unions to stand against the concession project was because it would not serve the interest of majority of Nigerians, as airports are invaluable assets of the Nigerian citizens.

Aba said that the federal government does not have the right to concession the airports without resort to the states and the local government councils because the ownership of the infrastructure is a collective one.

He said that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) by law should be approached by the owners of the facility to be commissioned, which is the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and not the Ministry of Aviation, which has been negotiating with the body for the airports concession.

“The process itself is riddled with a lot of contradictions and irregularities. The process does not tally with expectations in this kind of arrangement and up till now they cannot reconcile with the gaps,” he said.

He wondered why the federal government wanted to concession brand new airport terminals and alleged that the process is clothed in secrecy, disclosing that the concession arrangement included the concession of car park at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which was contrary to the initial concession plan, remarking that now that they have included the car park they would invariably include the toll gates.

“We have the actual labour issues which the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has not attended to or addressed. We have been engaging them and we would want these issues to be discussed before we take action,” he further said.

Aba also condemned the demolition of the Lagos office of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), which is now known as the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), as it has extended its services to rail and maritime accident investigation.

He said the demolition of the office complex was done in vain, remarking that if the facility were not demolished it would have become a hub for the investigation of rail and maritime accidents in Lagos and the South West region.

Aba said the Buhari’s administration has registered success in the area of infrastructure in the aviation agencies but it failed on the aviation road map.

The unions had earlier stopped the concession of the airports by the federal government through the court.

The unions comprising of; Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP-FAAN Branch), had declared that the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria were not competent to concession any airports in the country as planned.

The unions engaged the services of Femi Falana Chambers to challenge the planned concession of the airports at the National Industrial Court in the Lagos Judicial Division in Lagos State.

An originating summons dated March 14, 2023, had the Ministry of Aviation as the 1st defendant, while FAAN was the 2nd defendant in the case, which is yet to be assigned to a judge.

According to the claimants, the four airports scheduled for concession are the assets of the Federal Government, alleging that the government was not aware of the planned concession of the airports.

The unions also said that the 1st and the 2nd defendants could not solely slate the four airports for concession without the consent and authority of the Federal Government, the 36 state governments and the 774 local government councils in Nigeria.

The unions sought the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from concessioning the four airports.

The claimants also asked for an order of injunction restraining the defendants from determining the employment of the staff without complying with the provisions of FAAN Act (CAP F5) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and FAAN renewed Conditions of Service 2021 in any manner whatsoever and however.

The unions further claimed that the proposed concession of the airport did not consider the very serious implication of handing such important national security assets over to foreigners, adding that the government also failed to address the payment of severance benefits to its members working in FAAN, along with pension arrears estimated at N150 billion.

The unions claimed that FAAN generates an average of N70 to N75 billion annually from its over 26 airports, yet remits an average of N1 billion monthly into the Federation Account, while monthly salaries of its over 8,000 staff currently stands at over N2.3 billion.

Besides, the unions also alleged that the 2nd defendant had usurped the statutory duties of the Board of Directors in FAAN with its duties, saying that members of board were not inaugurated in the past eight years as entrenched in its Act.

Sirika had in October last year, said the Request for Proposals (RFP) phase of the Nigeria Airports Concession Programme (NACP), saw the emergence of preferred and reserve bidders for three out of four airports and cargo terminals as approved for concession under the programme.

Sirika had said that the exercise was in line with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) Act, 2005 and global best practice.

The case instituted against the federal government by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on national carrier was adjourned to March 29, 2023. Obviously the case would continue after this administration has left office, just as it is with the case on airports concession.