Aviation workers seek end to 40% IGR contribution

The continuous mandatory 40% income generation contribution of aviation agencies to the federation account has been criticized by unions in the Nigerian aviation sector.

Additionally, the business unions urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate the personnel Conditions of Service (CoS) of aviation companies, which they asserted had been operating for many years without legal terms.

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), the National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers (NAAPE), and the National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers (NAAPE) claimed that the forceful contribution was having a serious impact on the agencies’ performance.

The unions insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s former administration’s Finance Act 2022 violated the new Acts of several aviation agencies, which required that all revenue generated by the parastatals be invested back into the sector for infrastructure and human growth.

These were contained in a letter dated June 19, 2023, addressed to President Tinubu and obtained by the media.

The unions also copied the Chairman of the Salaries and Wages Commission, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of the Federation’s Service, the Ministry of Aviation, and the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

Principal Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade Ocheme Aba, ANAP, Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu, Deputy General Secretary, NAAPE, Comrade Umoh Ofonime, and General Secretary, AUPCTRE, Comrade Sikiru Wahab all signed the letter jointly.

Plea to Preserve Vital Functions 

The unions emphasized that the need to prevent the impending danger to the aviation industry if the aviation agencies become incapacitated and unable to perform their safety-related functions underpinned the argument for the reversal of the 40% mandatory contribution of the agencies to the federation account.

They stressed that the Federal Government typically supplements them on an annual basis and claimed that the agencies’ full financial accruals are grossly insufficient to meet their financial obligations.

The unions further stated that the aviation agencies are “mere cost recovery organizations” and non-profit and that the 40% decrease from their financial accruals amounted to the parastatals being taken off life support.

• “Based on the foregoing, we humbly request Your Excellency to exempt aviation agencies from the deduction to preserve the vital safety functions of the same agencies without which the industry will collapse with its catastrophic impact on the national economy,” the unions said.

On the CoS, the unions stated that despite having concluded a management-unions review on the issue many years back, the National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission (NSIWC), Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Budget Office have continued to hold their member’s hostage.

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