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Chinelo Obogo
The three major aviation unions, Airport Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), have accused the management of the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN), of planning to renew the contract of I-Cube, the concessionaire that was in charge of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Access gate, Lagos.
In an internal memo seen by Daily Sun which was signed by the National Secretary of NUATE, Ocheme Aba , the National Deputy Secretary of ATSSSAN, Frances Akinjole and the national secretary of ANAP, Abdulrazaq Saidu and sent to the Managing Director of FAAN, the unions allege that there are vested interests within the legal department who are bent on concessioning the revenue points of the agency for their personal gain despite the expiration of the contract in February 2019.
The unions said that despite the fact that the commercial department of FAAN has generated more revenue since taking over toll collection from the concessionaire last month; powerful interests within the agency are bent on extending the company’s contract.
The memo reads: “ Recall that with the support of our unions, FAAN was able to recover the International Airport Toll Gate in Lagos in February 2020. As a result, FAAN’s revenue from the assets has significantly increased and most importantly, the members of staff of the agency in the commercial department have been usefully engaged as against their earlier state of redundancy.
“Now, however, we have been reliably informed that the management of FAAN is about to reverse these gains by handing the toll gate back to the very concessionaire whose services was not needed. This reversal if approved will portend grave danger to the survival of FAAN as it will signify the re-commencement of the bastardisation of FAAN for unwholesome reasons.
“We wish to at this point, restate the position of our unions with regard to our unshakable commitment to protect FAAN’s revenue in the interest of our members, the public and the larger economic recovery. This position has been witnessed in previous efforts with Pan Express and Maevis, to mention but a few in which the cargo terminal and FAANs revenue collection were handed over to private individuals clandestinely. In both instances, assets were successfully recovered with the active support of our unions despite pressure from powerful people to thwart the efforts.
