The House of Representatives has demanded that the planned concession agreements of four international Airports, namely, Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt, be put on hold, until all knotty issues and grey areas raised by the various stakeholders are settled
The House is particularly concerned about issues already raised by the various Unions in the sector and warned, however, that it was better to tarry a while and resolve all contending bottlenecks so as not to grind the already distress Aviation sector to a halt
Chairman of the Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji who gave the position of the House of Representatives in the absence of the Aviation Minister, Hadi Siriaki , at a budget defense with the Ministry, explained that it was important to step down the concessioning agreements so that all relevant stakeholders agree on the appropriate thing to avoid chaos in the sector.
He noted that these were not the best times for the Aviation industry, which has suffered adversely following the COVID-19 impact and as such the committee aims at doing everything possible and right to stabilize the place do that it bounces back
Hon Nnaji said “You may recall that in September or thereabout, this committee had interactions with the representatives of the labour unions on this subject matter.
“During the meeting which was sequel to our earlier intervention over the unions’ strike action against the concession, a lot of concerns were raised by the representatives of the labour unions regarding the airports’ concession.
“Among the concerns were the lack of transparency in the exercise, labour issues, the Chinese loans, the legal issues that may arise from the existing concessions and the lack of proper valuation of the present status of the affected airports, among others,” he said.
He further said that based on the outcome of the meeting with the labour unions, the committee invited the Minister of Aviation and the Heads of Agencies under him to discuss the issue of the Airports’ Concession.
Continuing the Chairman revealed that several dates were fixed for the meeting but for one reason or the other, the stakeholders declined attendance, even as several petitions both for and against concessioning the affected Airports were currently before his Committee
“In view of this, the House of Representatives committee on Aviation hereby requests that the concession of the four Airports should be put on hold pending the resolution of the contentious issues raised by the unions and other Stakeholders to avoid industrial actions that may further cripple the already distressed industry
“We are hopeful that at the end of the day, our Intervention would provide opportunity for all the parties to reach a common ground that will move Aviation industry forward. Once again, on behalf of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation,” the chairman ruled
