The National Assembly joint committee on Aviation, on Wednesday, directed the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika to halt the planned demolition of the offices of the Aviation Agencies in Lagos State.
The directive was issued by Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Christine Olujumi and Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji in response to the two-day warning strike embarked by Aviation Workers’ Unions which crippled flight operations across the country on Monday and Tuesday.
In a letter jointly signed by the Clerks of the Senate and House Committees dated April 18, 2023, the two Chairmen frowned against the frequency of industrial actions and the attendant disruption of flight operations in the country.
They noted that most of the issues causing the agitations were not new and wondered why they had continued to linger stressing that some of them have been in contention for years.
The letter also directed the Minister to furnish the committees with all the documents pertaining to the sundry issues raised by the workers which include: non-implementation of the consequential adjustment to national minimum wage by some of the agencies as agreed in February 2022, as well as non-release of reviewed condition of service by the relevant government agencies for about a decade.
The lawmakers also requested for information relating to the continuous threats of outright demolition of the aviation agencies, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) headquarters without alternative provisions for their regional offices.
“The letter reads in parts, ” in order to prevent further escalation of the crisis as envisaged by the failure of the federal Ministry of Aviation to address the issues within this warning strike period , we are directed to request that you furnish the committees with the following information:
i. Comprehensive details of all issues under contention; actions taken by the Ministry and its agencies to address the grievances of the workers; Challenges in implementing the various agreements reached with unions and any other documents that are germane to the subject matter.
Meanwhile the chairmen of the committees of both Chambers have also implored the unions to shelve any more actions that will further prevent smooth running of the sector, promising that their grievances would be duly addressed soonest.
