By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

Aviation unions have unfolded plans to embark on a nationwide protest against the planned concession of four international airport  terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt by the Federal Government.

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and Association of Nigeria Aviation Professional (ANAP) are demanding clarifications from Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika on the status of the concession already in place concerning the $500 million loan utilized for new terminal buildings at the four airports, which have already come on stream.

They said Sirika  and members of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) , the body handling the concession  of public facilities, may have indulged in  some unwholesome practices concerning the four airports.

They expected Sirika to take into consideration, the existing concession  of the four terminals rather than embark on a “‘phony project” that raises more questions than answers in terms of scope and other critical elements.

In a statement on yesterday by the General Secretary, NUATE,  Ocheme Aba; the  Deputy General Secretary ,  ATSSSAN, Frances Akinjole and the Secretary General , ANAP, Abdul Rasaq Saidu, they said there was no clarity on the semi- concession that already exists through a  Chinese loan   being used for ongoing new terminals at the  same airports , including remodeling of the old terminals.

The unions said it had become imperative to publicly dissociate themselves from any notion of being against the concession of airports as being insinuated in some quarters. They stated   that they a few months ago, they  offered an alternative concession model to the  government.

Describing airport concession as a crime against Nigerians  , the unions said they were ready to resist the process of shortchanging the nation through “a phony project” that lacks transparency insisting that they were not ignorant of the concession  or PPP procedures .

The statement reads in part : “ We are not ignorant of the ICRC processes. As a matter of fact, our well-considered contention that the ICRC has not performed due diligence on the concession programme, and that the ministry has not acted altruistically in the matter is borne out of our knowledge that both the ministry and the ICRC have gravely failed to comply with the established PPP due process.

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“On the strength of that, we shall stand firm against any attempt to share our common patrimony in the guise of a phony concession exercise. And we enjoin all Nigerians who love the fatherland to join us as we prepare for nationwide public protests to be kicked off shortly in order to compel a rethink in a positive direction. There is no going back

”Equally important is the loud silence over the issue of primacy of national security, especially at this time and the foreseeable future. The ministry failed to situate, within the national security architecture, the potential fact of the four foremost international gateways being held in private (most likely foreign) hands.

“We hasten, though, to let it be known that we are unambiguously strewn to the national cause and the genuine interest of the workers of FAAN(Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria). We are completely extricated from any narrow, or selfish motives. Therefore, we shall remain unwavering in our stated commitment to deny this clandestine PPP the benefit of daylight.”