Aviation unions kick against concession of Nigerian airports

The labour unions at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, on Wednesday said that they lack confidence in the recent appointment of transaction advisers for the concession of four airports in the country.

The four airports are the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.

The unions, under the auspices of Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, said that they would do everything legally possible to stop the planned concession of the airports by the federal government.

A statement issued Wednesday also said that the unions had resolved to boycott the stakeholders ’ meeting scheduled to hold in Lagos on Thursday.

The boycott, the unions said, is to protest the move and to press home their demands.

The unions stated that following their earlier objections about the lack of transparency in the government’s plan to concession the airports, the Minister of State for Aviation , Hadi Sirika, admitted a representative of the unions into a committee set up to advise the government on the project.

They added that the committee developed a work plan, which it submitted to the minister, and obtained his approval to implement it.

But the unions maintained that one of the criteria for the appointment of transaction advisers on airport concession is to consult with the committee, which was not done; a major reason for the opposition to the planned concession.