Again, aviation unions to protest 50% IGR deduction
Unions in the air transport sector have voiced concerns about the continued deduction of 50 per cent from the internally generated revenue of aviation agencies, saying it has concluded plans to embark on a peaceful protest over the issue.
The unions include the 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, Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN.
A statement by the General Secretary of NUATE, Mr Ocheme Aba; Deputy General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Mr Frances Akinjole; Secretary General of ANAP, Mr Abdul Rasaq; General Secretary of NAAPE, Mr Olayinka Abioye; and Secretary General of AUPCTRE, Mr Sikiru Waheed, lamented that numerous efforts to make the Federal Government exempt aviation agencies had ended in futility.
The statement reads: “All workers of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, joint solidarity of all aviation workers are hereby directed to embark on peaceful protests at all airports nationwide on 18th September 2024 to demand the discontinuation of deduction of 50% from the internally generated revenue of the agencies mentioned above through an exemption.
“All efforts on our part have failed to impress upon the federal government that all the agencies are cost recovery, and not profit making, organisations. As such, they cannot survive on half of their incomes under any model of administration or any other guise whatsoever. The ultimatum given to the Minister of Aviation on the same has expired since the end of August 2024.
“Information available to us indicates that some important safety critical activities of the agencies are grinding to a halt under the yoke of the deductions. It has, therefore, become incumbent on us as trade unions and workers in aviation to let the public and the government be aware that we shall bear no responsibility in the event that the industry becomes dysfunctional as a result of financial incapacity due to the deductions at source.”
