The federal government has ordered Accident Investigation Bureau –Nigeria (AIB-N) to vacate its office at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and relocate to Abuja this weekend for the planned demolition of the Bureau’s office for the expansion of jet ways of the new international terminal projected to start operation in March.
The Business Intelligence Africa (TBI Africa) reports that the administrative department of AIB-N last week issued an internal memo to all the staff members of the bureau to resume in Abuja on or before Monday, threatening that anyone that failed to comply would be sanctioned.
As at yesterday most of the workers of the bureau were seen outside the premises trying to move their personal and official belongings out of their offices.
Some of the workers, who spoke to journalists on the condition of anonymity, lamented that they were only given two working days to comply with the new directive, as one of them wondered why the management would issue such a directive to the workers when relocation allowances had not been paid to any of them.
The source also lamented that over 90 per cent of the workers were yet to collect January 2022 salaries and wondered where they would get the financial resources to relocate.
The source further alleged that their in-house unions might have compromised, as none of them was willing to discuss the issue with the management.
Out of the 245 workers of AIB-N, no fewer than 100 of them are based in Lagos, which is the hub of aviation activities in Nigeria.
The source said: “We on Wednesday received a letter from the admin department, which directed us to move to Abuja without prior notice. We were given till Monday to relocate to Abuja even when we don’t have a befitting office there and nothing is being said about our accommodation. And as we stand, no one is talking about relocation allowances to the workers.
“Even, in the civil service rules, you can’t compel staff to relocate without the payment of relocation allowances. Staff are using their personal resources to relocate government property to Abuja.”
The Deputy General Secretary, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Comrade Frances Akinjole, in his reaction to the directive said the unions were not aware of the relocation of the staff.
Secretary General of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Ocheme Aba, who confirmed the relocation order, however said that some senior staff of the bureau, especially those in the finance department had been paid relocation allowances since 2020, but refused to move.
Aba also confirmed that most of the staff were yet to get January salaries, but said that the Ministry of Aviation promised to pay them once they relocate to Abuja.
The new terminal, which was built by CCECC, a Chinese company with Chinese loan from China Exim bank and counter funding by the federal government, had been completed but has not been put into use because there was not enough space for the ramp where aircraft could taxi to the avio bridges.
Similar terminals in Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt have been put into use and the federal government has started repaying the loan for the terminal facilities, while the existing international terminal in Lagos is being overstretched due to under capacity.
