Air traffic controllers threaten to ground Nigeria’s airports Wednesday

Air traffic controllers threaten to ground Nigeria’s airports Wednesday

Flights across airports in the country may be grounded on Wednesday, September 18, as air traffic controllers are set to protest the 50 per cent deduction made by the Federal Government from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of aviation agencies.

The National President of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Abayomi Agoro, said in a statement, yesterday, that the safety-critical activities of Nigeria’s aviation sector are ‘slowly grinding to a halt, reaching levels that are unacceptable.’

Agoro said that the agencies within the sector are financially constrained, rendering the sector dysfunctional, hence the urgent need for the Federal Government to exempt aviation agencies from the 50 per cent deduction.

He claimed that the policy is severely undermining the safety and efficiency of Nigeria’s aviation sector and should be stopped.

“We want to place it on record that the safety-critical activities of the entire aviation sector are slowly grinding to a halt, reaching levels that are unacceptable. The agencies within the sector are financially constrained, rendering the sector dysfunctional. This alarming situation, if left unaddressed, poses significant risks to the safety and operational effectiveness of Nigerian airspace.

“It should also be on record that NATCA will not assume responsibility should a strain on the sector’s safety and operational needs result in any critical incident or accident. The continued financial constraints imposed by these deductions are compromising our ability to deliver safe, efficient air traffic control services.

READ ALSO:

• Bobrisky reveals plans to have children in next 5 years
• JUST IN: Tinubu returns to Abuja today after China, UK trips
• ‘I met native doctor on Tiktok’, varsity student speaks on how he killed female colleague for money ritual (VIDEO)

“Considering these developments, NATCA’s council, by this press release, places all air traffic controllers on notice that our mother union has directed a nationwide protest effective from ‘00:00 hours on the 18th of September 2024’, all controllers are to comply with the instructions from our mother union until further notice.

“Further instructions will be communicated in due course through the secretariat. We call on the Federal Government to act swiftly to exempt aviation agencies from the IGR deduction policy and address the financial challenges threatening the safety and functionality of Nigeria’s airspace,” Agoro said.

Daily Sun had on Thursday reported that unions in the aviation industry would on Wednesday, September 18, stage a nationwide protest over the same issue.

The unions comprising the National Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Practitioners (ANAP), National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees  (AUPCTRE) and the Air Transports Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSSAN), stateed that the protest is to demand the discontinuation of the 50 per cent deduction.

The unions led by their leaders, Ocheme Aba (NUATE), Abdul Rasaq Saidu (ANAP), Francis Akinjole (ATSSSAN), Olayinka Abioye NAAPE) and Sikiru Waheed (AUPCTRE), directed their members in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) and the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) at the all airports nationwide to join the protest.

The unions said that information available to them indicates that some critical safety activities of agencies like FAAN, NCAA, NAMA, and NiMet are grinding to a halt over lack of funding.

They also stated that all efforts on their part to convince the Federal Government to stop the deductions, as agencies are cost recovery and not profit-making organisations, have failed.

They stressed that the agencies cannot survive on half of their incomes under the model of administration or any other guise whatsoever.

 

Air traffic controllers threaten to ground Nigeria’s airports Wednesday