Senate Asks Minister to Halt Planned Demolition of Aviation Agencies in Lagos

•Probes immigration service over delay in passport issuance, renewal

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate yesterday, directed the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, to stop forthwith, the planned demolition of the offices of aviation agencies in Lagos, pending the outcome of the intervention being made by its Committee on Aviation.

The Senate resolution was sequel to a motion moved by Senator Biodun Olujimi ( PDP Ekiti South), on the urgent need for a Senate intervention on the intending warning strike by aviation unions.

This was just as the Senate yesterday directed its committee on Interior to urgently investigate the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) over circumstances that lead to the delay of issuance and renewal of the Nigerian Passport.

The federal government and aviation workers have been at loggerheads over plan to demolish Lagos office complexes of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The agencies have been asked to relocate to Abuja as new headquarters, but the unions said staff who had relocated were yet to be paid and had been protesting the action.

Owing to this, Olujimi in the motion called the attention of the Senate to intending warning strike by the Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, National Association of Aircrafts Pilots and Engineers, among others.

She noted that the industrial actions have become too many and too frequent to be let low, pointing out that issues in contention are not new. Some of them, according to her had lingered for over eight years with several agreements signed between the unions and government but not honoured.

The Senator stated that the continuous threats of outright demolition of the aviation agencies (FAAN, NCAA and NAMA Headquarters) in Lagos, by the Ministry without making reasonable provisions for befitting alternative offices, was making the affected unions fight back through strike actions.

She therefore urged the Senate to intervene in the matter by mandating its committee to interface with all stakeholders for possible way out of the crisis.

After an exhaustive debate on the motion, the Senate mandated its committee on Aviation, chaired by Olujimi, to organise round table discussion with all parties involved in the crisis.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said, “The aviation being the face of the country, must not be allowed to run into crisis.

“Our committee should intensify efforts towards nipping in the bud any action that may result into strike action by the aviation unions and also prevent the unions from embarking on any strike.”

Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday directed its committee on Interior to urgently investigate the NIS over the circumstances leading to the delay of issuance and renewal of the Nigerian passport.

The Upper Chamber also mandated the committee to investigate the contract award for the production of passport and submit the report within two weeks.

The Senate’s resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion on the, “delay on issuance, renewal of Nigerian Passport by the Nigerian Immigration Services,” at plenary yesterday, sponsored by Senator representing Anambra Central, Uche Ekwunife.

Ekwunife in her lead debate, said the delay in the renewal of Nigeria passport by the NIS was resulting in untold hardships for Nigerians, who either needed to travel out of the country or return to the country.

She said the Nigerian passport was an official identity document, issued to Nigerians for the purpose of traveling out and into the country in exercise of their rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.

She said many Nigerians were still facing challenge with passport processing, despite the timeline of six weeks for processing passport, given by the federal government barely a year ago.

According to her, new applicants and those who want their passports renewed spend between three to six months processing their applications at the NIS offices in Nigeria the country’s embassies abroad.

Ekwunife said securing appointments for biometric capturing at the passport offices now takes between five to eight weeks.

She also said many applicants spend four months, waiting for their passports to be ready for collection after the biometric exercise.

She lamented that it had also became extremely difficult for passport to be processed across the NIS offices in different states, especially in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

This, she noted was forcing the applicants to travel to various locations to get their passports renewed.

She said, “The international students are also finding it very difficult to renew their passports to enable them to travel back to reunite with their families.”

The Peoples Democratic Party Senator representing Cross-River South, Gershom Bassey, who seconded the motion said issuance of   passport was a right of every Nigerian.

He expressed concern that the issue of delay in the issuance of passport that was almost becoming a controversial, was not in the best interest of Nigerians.

Collaborating Bassey’s submission another PDP member representing Ekiti South, Senator Biodun Olujimi, said the motion was timely.

Meanwhile, the Senate in its resolution on the motion mandated its committee to investigate the contract award for the printing of Nigerian passport

The Interior Committee was directed to report back the outcome of its investigation within two weeks.