Aviation workers’ unions have finalized plans to shut down all airports nationwide starting September 18, due to the Federal Government’s refusal to reverse the 50 percent deduction from the internally generated revenue of aviation agencies.
This strike action was announced in a statement released Thursday, signed by the General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Ocheme Aba, and the Deputy General Secretary of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Frances Akinjole, among other union leaders.
The unions’ protest targets the deductions from agencies such as the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau. Initially, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy mandated a 25 percent deduction in October 2022, which later increased to 40 percent. In January 2024, President Bola Tinubu raised the deduction to 50 percent.
The unions—including the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, and others—warned that essential safety operations are being compromised due to the financial pressure caused by these deductions. They cautioned that they would not be responsible if the aviation industry becomes dysfunctional due to financial constraints.
In their statement, the unions expressed frustration, noting that all efforts to convince the Federal Government that aviation agencies are cost-recovery and not profit-making organizations have failed. They emphasized that these agencies cannot survive on just half of their income, and pointed out that the ultimatum given to the Minister of Aviation had already expired at the end of August 2024.
