The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and an aviation stakeholder have supported the move by the National Assembly to review the airport’s concession exercise carried out by the past administration of President Muhammed Buhari.
The duo posited that the exercise lacked transparency from the outset and required further investigation by the government.
Questions on Concession Exercise
The General Manager, NUATE, Comrade Ocheme Aba, expressed delight with the decision of the National Assembly.
According to him, the decision showed that some key people in government were listening to the voice of the Nigerian people and assured that the unions would participate in the public hearing on the matter.
However, Aba said that the review could not be concluded as cancellation until the National Assembly comes out with its report, maintaining that the unions believed in concession, but must be transparently done.
Aba also queried the rationale behind the concession exercise and the aspects of the industry that were concessioned by the past administration.
He questioned the FAAN’s share in the concession, maintaining that the investments of the concessionaires were also shrouded in secrecy.
The union leader further interrogated how the government arrived at a concession period for each concessionaire, declaring that there are more questions than answers.
- “It is not a summersault in that even the person that moved the motion stated clearly that he would continue to vote for concession. So, he was particular about how this concession was carried out and I think that is the concern of everybody, including the unions.
- “We have not kicked against concession, but there should be a concession that is beneficial to all the stakeholders, including the workers. It can be done, but it must be beneficial to the country, the industry, FAAN, and the workers. That is what we seek; examples are bound everywhere in the world,” he said.
Need for Total Review and Concerns over Transparency
Besides, the President of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association of Nigeria (AOPAN), Dr Alex Nwuba, said that the airport’s concession and other major projects executed by the former Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika needed total review as canvassed by the Senate.
Nwuba expressed doubt if the project was transparently done, claiming that the nitty-gritty of the projects was not known to the public.
According to him, his interaction with the employees of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), indicated that the project was badly executed.
He regretted that most officials who represent the country in negotiations hardly carry out such tasks with the objectivity and transparency they deserved.
Nwuba, however, feared that the truncation of the project by the new government may put the country on the edge in the comity of nations, while investors would as usual be wary of investing in the country.
He said:
- “It is unfortunate that we have agreed; transparent or not and everybody accused the last minister of aviation of lack of transparency. It is the same lack of transparency that resorted to the crisis that followed the attempt to create a national carrier for the country. Only one person showed up to bid because others were sure it would not be a fair and transparent process.
- ‘We don’t know what it entails, but these are the things that we need to examine. There is no question about it that we didn’t do the right thing in the country in the plans we made at the very tail end of the last administration.”
The Senate last week, passed legislation against the concession of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
The Senate’s resolve to probe the concession of the airports followed a motion by Sen. Sumaila Kawu, representing Kano South.
Kawu highlighted that a thorough analysis of the FAAN Act and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) procedures manual revealed flaws in the foundation of the concession process.