The General Secretary, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) says the inauguration of the Aviation Agencies Boards will help to address the anomalies in the sector.
Speaking during a news conference of unions on recent happenings in aviation industry as regards concession, relocation not aviation Agencies to Abuja, recruitment among others, the General Secretary, ANAP Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu, said the absence of the Boards in the sector had led to so many unprofessional conducts by officials of the Aviation Ministry and politicians.
Saidu explained that with the constitution and non inauguration of the Boards of the aviation agencies, the ministry would continue to get it wrong in terms of employment, policies and resource management.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to give the unions a listening ear and urgently save the industry from undue pressure from the aviation ministry.
“Due to the fact that there is no Board of Directors on ground, the aviation ministry has been interfering on the day to day running of the parastatals which is not supposed to be so”
According to Comrade Saidu, the roles of the Board of Directors is in the Act that established the agencies; he however, pointed out that it was a deliberate act by the previous government to dissolve them so that they could have direct control of the funds of these parastatals.
Saidu said by so doing, the powers that be, have been able to gain control of issues that have to do with Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA), IGR, employments, funds, budget, staff salary and other matters that were statutory vested on the Board of Directors.
He said “It is a deliberate act and that brought about improper placements, whereby they brought people to make the top heavy. The top is so heavy in each of parastatals, which makes their wage bill heavy too”.
The ANAP scribe argued that it was the Board of aviation parastatals that would help checkmate things happening in the sector. “I am calling on the President to constitute Board of Directors of Aviation parastatals”.
