Aviation workers’ unions have vowed to resist the concession of key revenue points at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The coalition, consisting of the Air Transportation Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria, National Union of Air Transport Employees, and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, in a congress recently, faulted the process of ceding the airport’s fee-paying access gate, car park and VIP protocol lounge to a preferred bidder.
It urged the government to immediately review of the sealed concession agreement.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced the Corporation of America Airports Consortium as the preferred bidder for the airport, while ENL Consortium qualified as the reserve bidder.
The coalition said the revenue points could not be legitimately ceded without a transparent plan for revenue collection and remittances.
In a communiqué on Sunday, the coalition also faulted the concession of the VIP lounge, noting that it currently serves as offices for some FAAN officials that were forcefully transferred from Lagos in 2020.
The communique reads, “All unions national executives should as a matter of urgency compel the FAAN management to review if possible, stop any pending agreement related to the concession of protocol lounge (VIP) of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.
“All unions executive should call the attention of FAAN management as stakeholders not to accept any form of ceding of any part of the airport, particularly access gate, car parks and other revenue points of the airport without proper agreements on returns of monies exceeding the existing benchmark accruable to the airport.
It added that all existing concessions related to lounges, car parks access gates and various revenue should be reviewed in order to ascertain the level of compliance in terms of remittance of the agreed amount to the government.
