Workers suspend planned protest over deductions of aviation agencies’ revenue

The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has suspended its planned protest against the federal government’s deduction of 50 percent of internally-generated revenue (IGR) from aviation agencies.

On September 12, aviation workers announced plans to stage a peaceful protest on September 18.

The workers are under the umbrella of the NAAPE, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreation Services Employees (AUPCTRE).

The planned protest followed the refusal of the government to agree to their call for the total reversal of the 50 percent deduction policy from the IGR.

On September 13, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, said he will meet with aviation union leaders on September 17 over a planned protest.

In a statement on Tuesday,  Olayinka Abioy, general secretary of NAAPE, said the protest, earlier planned to commence on Wednesday, has been suspended due to ongoing discussions on the issue by higher authorities in the industry.

“Consequent upon information available to us about ongoing discussions by higher authorities over the continued deduction of 50 per cent by the Federal Government, I hasten to inform our esteemed members that the planned protest scheduled for tomorrow is hereby suspended pending the outcome of these discussions which we shall communicate appropriately to you all,” Abioye said.

Prior to the protest announced in September, the unions had on August 14 threatened to embark on a one-day strike to protest against the IGR deduction on August 21.

In a memo signed by the leadership of the five unions last month, the workers said the warning strike would serve as a protest to demand the discontinuation of 50 percent deduction from the IGR of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).

The unions said the agencies are “cost recovery, and not profit making organisations,” hence “cannot survive on half incomes”.

Two days after the announcement in August, President Bola Tinubu approved the reduction of deductions in aviation agencies’ IGR from 50 percent to 20 percent.

However, the workers rejected the reduction, insisting that the aviation sector is faced with numerous challenges and that money earned is never enough.