Five unions in the aviation industry have appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt the hitherto 40 per cent deductions from the financial accruals of the aviation agencies as prescribed by the Finance Act 2022.
The workers bodies said their demands are premised on the need to ensure the agencies are financially buoyant to carry out their statutory responsibility to ensure the sector does not witness any untoward incidents or accidents.
The bodies, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE); Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) ; Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP); National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers (NAAPE) and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) in a letter to President Tinubu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Head of Service of the Federation; Ministry of Aviation; Ministry of Labour and Employment; Chairman Salaries and Wages Commission and DG, Budget Office explained that despite having concluded a management-unions review of the CoS many years back, the National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission (NSIWC), Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Budget Office have continued to hold their members hostage “by their dereliction of duty and plain inhumanity to man.”
All pleas to the relevant authorities over the years they said have not been heeded, affirming that despite interventions by former Ministers of Aviation and of Labour, the responsible federal agencies have remained unperturbed and remorseless on the issue.
The document was signed by Principal Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, Comrade Frances Akinjole; General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade Ocheme Aba; Secretary General, ANAP, Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu; Deputy General Secretary, NAAPE, Comrade Umoh Ofonime and AUPCTRE General Secretary, Comrade Sikiru Wahab.
“This plea is predicated on the need to avert imminent danger that will befall the aviation sector in the event that the aviation agencies become incapacitated and unable to render their safety related functions. This is because, even the full financial accruals of the agencies are grossly inadequate in meeting the financial obligations of the agencies, and are normally supplemented by the Federal Government on an annual basis.
“It is important to note that all the aviation agencies are mere cost recovery organizations and absolutely non-profit. Therefore, deduction of a whole 40% from their financial accruals is akin to removal of life support from the agencies”.
“On the basis of the foregoing, we humbly request Your Excellency to exempt aviation agencies from the deduction in order to preserve the vital safety functions of the same agencies without which the industry will collapse with its catastrophic impact on the national economy”, the unions appealed.
