The Abuja Chapter Chairman of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN) Comrade Samuel Wuyep said that everyone will bear the brunt of the Federal Government’s planned concession of the 4 major international airports in Nigeria as airfares are billed to increase tremendously based on the increment of aeronautical and non-aeronautical fees on the airlines by the private investor in a bid to make profit.
He stated this at the association’s office Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, in exclusive interview session with CEOAFRICA. He added that the country has 22 airports and if the 4 major airports namely: Murtala Mohammed International Airport Ikeja, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano and the Port Harcourt International Airport Port Harcourt are concessioned, then the likely abandonment of the remaining 18 which relies on these 4 for funding as a result of their high patronage by international flights is billed to occur. This he said will definitely boomerang on the staff, thereby forcing them into the labour market.
He further stated that the Staff of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will be embarking on a peaceful protest on Monday August 31st 2020 in a bid to air their views and state their position against the Federal Governments planned concession of the airports which he believes is not transparent.
He reiterated that past concession efforts by the Federal Government have never been successful, crippling the concessioned properties apart from job loss, as time has proven that private individuals cannot adequately handle Federal Government properties like in the case of NITEL and NEPA.
He also added that the part concession of the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MM2), to Bi Courtney has not been successful either; as the company is indebted to the tune of 12 billion naira in offsetting the payment of services provided by the staff of the Federal Airport Authorities of Nigeria (FAAN), which is a breach of agreement signed in the Memorandum of Understanding as such services where the responsibilities of Bi Courtney, but they could not meet up with the demands.
However, he stated that if the Federal Government insists on going ahead with the planned concession then certain demands have to be met and one important demand is the proper settlement of staff through their Pension Fund which cannot be traced, as PENCOM does not have a detailed record of staff salary deductions which the staff needs to fall back on, if asked to go.
He further mentioned while Nigerians were keeping safe at home as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic the Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika claimed to have obtained the Outlined Business Case Certificate for the concession of these airports from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), stating that there is no reason why the airports should be concessioned as audit reports and the regulatory body of the airports have never given a report stating otherwise.
With reference to the Chinese loans obtained in building the terminals of the airports, he made it clear that these loans have not been cleared as the terminals though commissioned are still under construction, which he believes will bring more indebtedness to the Federal Government if conceded out.
He advised the Federal Government to open its doors for negotiation with all stakeholders and look into capacity development of the airports in a bid to enhance their effectiveness rather than concession, as the concession document does not reflect the interest of FAAN staff.
He said that the airports are our national heritage and giving them out for concession will rob us of our history; as these airports bear the names of our Fathers who have fought for the independence of Nigeria. These airports, he buttressed are historical landmarks that must be preserved from generation to generation and not lost to concession as this will likely result to a name change and a dent in our identity as a people.