FAAN Pensioners Kick Against Airports Concessioning

The Nigerian Union of
Pensioners, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) branch has staged a protest condemning the planned concessioning of the four major airports in Nigeria.
The group in its protest at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, on Thursday posited that the idea of the concessioning of selling of the airports should be dropped.
Speaking to newsmen during the protest, the chairman of the pensioners at the Port Harcourt Airport, Mr Vincent Nweke, said that the protest was taking place simultaneously in all the airports across the country.
He said that the nation-wide protest and rally was with respect to the planned concessioning of the four viable airports of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja.
Explaining the reason for kicking against the planned concessioning, Nweke said that the welfare and issues about the pensioners would be forgotten when airports are concessioned.
“We are saying ‘No’ to selling or concessioning of any Nigerian airport.
The ones they have sold, like NEPA, NITEL and the rest of them, how far have they fared. Concession will lead to arms proliferation risk.
FAAN management have taken good care of pensioners and have paid our gratuity up to 2015 and then pay us every month the same time with staff who are still in service.
The government has the hammer and they will do what they want to do. They will blackmail the management to call it a bad name and do what they want.
FAAN is doing well. Airlines are owing it over N12 billion and Federal Government will not always allow the management to take steps to recover their money,” Nweke said.
The union also called on security agents to investigate the minister in-charge of aviation for his interest in selling the national assets, instead of focusing on recovering N12 billion owed FAAN.

Corlins Walter