Senate orders NCAA to withhold NG Eagle’s operating certificate

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The Senate Committee on Aviation has directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA to withdraw the issuance of Air Operators’ Certificate, (AOC) to the Nigeria Eagle Airline being midwife by the ASSET Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON)

The committee, in a letter signed by its Chairman, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said the order was to enable lawmakers investigate issues surrounding the controversial carrier.

The Senate’s “meddling”, in response to a petition, is coming about a week after their counterpart in the House of Representatives ordered the NCAA to a meeting, and issued a similar directive against AOC.

The Senate’s intervention was not unconnected to the protest by a section of the unions that had kicked against the move. The Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and National Union of Pensioners (NUP) branch at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) had faulted the rationale of creating a new airline from the assets of Arik Air that is in financial distress.

However, it has been reported that the Aviation labour unions have been fighting themselves over the plan by NCAA move to issue the AOC

While some of the unions insisted that the new airline should not be licenced to operate because it is rising from the ashes of Arik Air, and has allegedly taken over its assets but shirking its liabilities; other unions are insisting that the new airline should be licensed to operate.

The unions that kicked against the issuance of license to NG Eagle are: the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) branch of the National Union of Pensioners (NUP).

Recently, the unions had also petitioned the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, which advised NCAA to hold on with the issuance of the license until after the Director General had met with the committee.

However, the directive from the National Assembly seemed to have drawn the ire of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), who on Monday issued a stern warning to the National Assembly, especially the House Committee on Aviation to steer clear of activities of NCAA, saying that its recent comment was tantamount to political interference on safety issues.

NAAPE insisted that it was out of the purview of the National Assembly to determine who and when the regulatory body should issue the Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC) to applicants.

Three days ago, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) called on the Presidency to intervene in the crisis brewing from non-issuance of Air Operator’s Certificate to NG Eagle, the airline being planned by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), saying only this would avert the crisis that could eventually affect the sector, especially the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

The union particularly called on secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Chief of Staff to the President (CoS) to urgently intervene in these matters and facilitate an immediate cease fire and chart a path to progress on the sensitive issues.

In a chat with newsmen, the general secretary of NUATE, Ocheme Aba said the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the FAAN Branch of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) has urged the NCAA not to issue AOC to start-up airline, NG Eagle over fear that Arik Air is being transformed to NG Eagle and would thereby escape its heavy indebtedness to FAAN and other aviation Agencies.

Abba said the only quarter that can put a stop to a chaotic end of Arik Air and stop “the desecration of the NCAA” was the Presidency.

He also explained that the issue of indebtedness of Arik Air to FAAN and the NCAA was only a smokescreen, adding that the real issue is the politics of a new national carrier.

“Indications are that there is the fear on the side of the Minister of Aviation that AMCON has positioned its new airline, NG Eagle, to metamorphose into a national carrier, whereas the Honourable Minister has been laboring for the past six years to create one which he has named Nigeria Eagle.

“As AMCON and the Ministry are both agencies of the federal government, there is clearly no possibility of the two airlines operating side by side as national carriers. The fear is that if NG Eagle succeeds, then the Nigeria Eagle project would be jettisoned. That means one of the airlines must withdraw. This, we understand, is the crux of the matter,” he said.

He insisted that this does not in any way downplay the significance of Arik’s indebtedness to FAAN and others, adding that if anything, it suggested that there was pressing need to find a solution to Arik’s “heavy pile of debts.”

“The above situation has pitted FAAN and NCAA on the one hand against AMCON on the other hand. NCAA and FAAN are parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, while AMCON is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Finance and is also supervised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The two Ministers, the CBN Governor and the heads of the other agencies are all senior officers of the executive arm of the federal government of Nigeria.

Senator Adeyemi’s letter to the NCAA reads: “Having carefully considered the submission by the union, the Senate Committee on Aviation in consonance with the House Committee on Aviation, hereby direct you to immediately suspend the issuance of the Air Operating Certificate (AOC) to NG Eagle.

“The essence of this suspension is to enable the committee and relevant authorities carry out a thorough investigation on all allegations leveled by the union in their petition. The committee expects full compliance with this directive until a workable resolution is achieved,” the letter read in part.