LAGOS – In furtherance of discussions on the deductions of 50 per cent Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs) of aviation agencies into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Federal Government, Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation has called sector’s union leaders to a meeting in Abuja.
The minister in a letter dated September 20, 2024 with the reference number: PS/FMA/PC/S.017/265, signed by Dr. Emmanuel Meribole, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry and obtained by Daily Independent, slated the meeting for Monday, September 23, 2024 in his conference room in Abuja.
The letter with the head: ‘Save Aviation from Collapse: Notice of Nationwide Protest,’ was sent to the concerned unions; National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) and Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN).
Keyamo also advised the union Presidents and Chairmen to attend the scheduled meeting with their Generals-Secretary in a bid to have a fruitful engagement.
The letter read in part: “I write to express the appreciation of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo for heeding to his appeal to reconsider the planned protest scheduled for September 18, 2024 and to use this opportunity to invite you to a meeting with the Honourable Minister.
“To ensure very fruitful engagement, the Presidents/Chairmen of the unions are implored to come with their General Secretaries only.”
Keyamo had earlier scheduled a meeting with the unions on September 17, 2024 to address the vexed issue, but was postponed due to the official assignment of the minister.
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The minister had been in Montreal Canada for the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) conference. He returned to Nigeria on Wednesday evening.
The statement personally signed by Keyamo, had said that the meeting would provide a platform to openly discuss the issues at hand and allow President Bola Tinubu sufficient time to intervene and address the unions’ concerns comprehensively.
This intervention by the minister, compelled the unions to suspend the planned strike barely 24 hours to the action.
The unions, in separate letters to their members nationwide, had said that the suspension of the protest was necessary following the intervention from “higher authorities.”
One of the letters by the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), dated September 17, 2024, signed by Olayinka Abioye, its General Secretary and sighted by our correspondent, advised its members not to embark on the planned protest.
Four aviation agencies are affected by the TSA policy; they are the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).
