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How Air Peace lost N700m in one day over NLC, TUC Action

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My business sabotage under NPF, others watch — Allen Onyema

Stay away from aviation business, FG warns NLC, TUC

Nigeria’s airline, Air Peace has bemoaned the recent activities of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, on its business.

A development which grounded their daily operations, thus creating massive flight disruption and ultimately denying the airline over N700 million in one day.

The incident has further created serious upset to many Nigerians who wondered about the rationality behind Air Peace’s involvement and why the unions would engage in such activity on a day when the airline voluntarily airlifted stranded Nigerians in war-torn Sudan.

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Vanguard had reported that Air Peace airlifted 277 evacuees from war-torn Sudan to the Abuja airport with its Boeing 777 aircraft at no cost.

However, stakeholders have faulted the organized unions’ action, thus calling on the airline to sue NLC and TUC, stressing they are not above the law.

Also, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, directed the unions to stay away from the aviation industry, stressing that their actions are inimical to air safety.

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It would be recalled that the unions’ official last Wednesday, stormed the Lagos Airport and took over Air Peace, check-in counters, disrupting operations due to an alleged misunderstanding they had with the Governor of Imo State Hope Uzodinma.

READ ALSO: Max Air: Nigeria Airline Operateors Speak On Abuja Crash Landed Flight

The group held that no flights should be operated into Owerri airport because Uzodinma had disrupted their May Day activities earlier in the week.

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The protesters barged into the airport destroying and causing havoc at the airport while the security officials did nothing.

In the wake of the development, the management of Air Peace raised alarm over the deliberate massive disruption of their operation by the unions.

My business sabotaged as NPF, others watch —Allen Onyema

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According to the Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Allen Onyema, the unwarranted actions channelled to his business by the unions was uncalled for.

He lamented that he feels unprotected following the development.

He said: “You can imagine how I felt, while I was out there in the war front trying to rescue Nigerians, the NLC and TUC went disrupting every Air Peace flight across the country today.

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“We lost over N700 million as a result of the unions’ action. For somebody who has contributed so much to the nation, how do we get that money back?

READ ALSO: Crash Landed Flight: We Owe God Our Lives, Air Max Passengers Recount Ordeal

“This is so insensitive of the NLC and TUC. They chose today to disrupt our operations why? For something that does not even concern Air Peace. Because the governor disrupted their May Day activities, therefore no flight should go to Imo State.

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“They wrote to us that we should not fly to the state. Already we have a contract with the passengers, not NLC or TUC. They have no right whatsoever to instruct an airline not to obey the contractual relationship or obligations they have to their passengers.

“They do not have that right. It is a shame to our nation that security agencies are watching while an airline is out there doing all it can for the country was being attacked by some people, making sure our operations were destabilized causing massive delays and massive cancellations.

“Who is going to bear the brunt? Yet this same airline is out there in Egypt risking the lives of their crew and spending hundreds of millions of naira on behalf of this country.”

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Stay away from aviation business, FG warns NLC, TUC

However, as a reaction to the development, the Federal Government through the FAAN, has directed the unions’ to desist from engaging in union activities in the industry.

According to the Managing Director, FAAN, Captain Rabiu Yadudu, “The action of the organized labour is unacceptable and a deliberate plan to undermine aviation and other workers.

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READ ALSO:Flights Delayed As Plane Crash Lands At Abuja Airport

“We have written to the minister of aviation telling him the government needs to protect the sector from the action of the NLC, the airports are not places for anybody to come and exercise violent behaviour or mob action.

“We will not take it, What happened to Air Peace was very regrettable and just a sign of ego massage and I think that has no place in aviation. NLC should stay away from aviation, I think picketing needs to evolve. Nobody pickets in modern society now.”

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Stakeholders react

Meanwhile, the development has raised much concerns, as stakeholders insisted that it is an abuse of power and that the airline should set up a legal team to address the issue judiciary as a way of forestalling it in the future.

According to the President, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria, and former Chief Executive Officer of Associated Airlines, Alex Nwuba, “We need to engage NLC under the leadership of Comrade Joe Ajaero to separate aviation from labour issues with the State government

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“Aviation must speak one voice, enough of contradictory voices. If he continues to channel his energy in the wrong place, he will be put on the aviation no-fly list as an industry treat.”

Similarly, former military commandant, Murtala Mohammed Airport, Group Captain John Ojikutu, said: “The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, needs regulations to come hard on the union, in the same manner, the disruptive passengers are dealt with. These irresponsible acts of the unions that may bring us to disrepute in the aviation international community should be stopped now.

“Any disruption in the airport operational area of airport security restricted area must be considered as acts of unlawful interference that need to be legally sanctioned. What has been happening to the industry from the unions are acts of unlawful interference too many.”
VANGUARD

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Fixed Income: CBN Announces Fresh Regulations To Control Nigerian Market

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced sweeping regulations to take control of the Nigerian fixed income market.

The regulations expected to begin in November are aimed at boosting transparency across Nigeria’s financial sector.
The apex bank disclosed this in a recent statement.

CBN noted that the intervention is a key part of broader financial market reforms.

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READ ALSO:CBN Establishes New Unit To Tackle Financial Crime

Accordingly, it said its core objective is to enhance regulatory oversight and strengthen the market’s ability to effectively support the transmission of monetary policy and, ultimately, foster economic growth.

This transition will enable the CBN to assume direct responsibility for the management of the trading platform and handle end-to-end settlement activities under the bank’s established settlement system for financial market transactions,” the statement read.

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According to DAILY POST, Fixed income securities refer to investments which provide a return in the form of fixed periodic interest payments and the eventual return of the principal at maturity.

 

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Confusion Over Euro-Africa CCI’s $250m Investment In Edo

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The $250m investment deal Governor Monday Okpebholo claimed to have secured during his recent trip to Scotland is generating ripples over capacity of the European African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EACCI) to make such a huge investment.

The EACCI, headed by a Drector General, Dr. Kingsley Obasohan, is not known to have made any prior investment in Edo State or any part of the country.

Obasohan, who attended the Edo State Global Investment Summit virtually, announced the $250m investment.

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He said the investment would be made for a period of three years.

An online search was launched to unravel the EACCI as well as the man Obasohan.

READ ALSO:Okpebholo Warns Companies Against Fuelling Edo–Delta Boundary Dispute

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A number on the site was answered by a lady who claimed not to understand English language.

Several foreign partners were listed on the site as board members and advisory council.

Some closed associates of Obasohan said he would have to get clearance from the Board members before talking to journalists on the issue.

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Spokesman for the Edo Peoples Democratic Party, Daniel Noah Osa-Ogbegi, said the party would hold Governor Okpebholo accountable to Edo people and demanded clarity on the $250m investment from Glasgow.

Osa-Ogbegi said the proposed investment has become a source of embarrassment to Edo people because of unfolding information about EACCI.

READ ALSO:JUST IN: Okpebholo Nominates Another 5 Persons As Commissioner-designates

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He said the party would shine light on fiscal management practices that appeared to ignore transparency and responsibility.

Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Umar Musa Ikhilo, had earlier said those that attended the Glasgow summit were interested in keying into the SHINE agenda of Governor Okpebholo.

One of the chambers of commerce that attended, the European African Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed an MoU with the Edo State Government to invest a sum of $250 million over the next three to five years.

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“Last year, diaspora remittances were the second-highest source of foreign income in Nigeria after crude oil, over $20 billion, but only 2% of that went into investment. We are creating a vehicle to help convert more of that into direct investments.”

He added that a delegation from Scotland was expected to visit Edo State in the coming months to explore specific investment projects as a follow-up to the summit.

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Dangote Hits Out At PENGASSAN, Says Union ‘Serial Saboteurs, Serving Oligarchs’

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The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has berated the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), accusing the union of decades-long sabotage of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and serving the interests of its leaders rather than ordinary Nigerians.

In a statement issued at the weekend, the refinery described PENGASSAN’s latest directive to cut crude oil and gas supplies to the facility as another act of economic sabotage designed to inflict untold hardship on Nigerians.

“Indeed, over time, the Association has consistently proved itself as serving interests other than those of Nigerians and Nigerian workers,” the statement declared.

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Dangote recalled that in 2007, when the Federal Government sold its moribund Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries to Blue Star Consortium, led by the Dangote Group, for $750 million, it was PENGASSAN and its ally, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), that sabotaged the deal. “It is now obvious to everyone that the FGN’s decision at the time was the right one and that PENGASSAN and NUPENG ignominiously wrote their names on the wrong pages of history,” the company said.

READ ALSO:Dangote Fuel Sells Cheaper In Togo Than In Nigeria – Falana Laments

The refinery also faulted the union’s role in the much-publicised rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, describing it as a “ruse” which PENGASSAN “knowingly celebrated despite being a scam on Nigerians.” The statement further accused the union of opposing amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) that would have freed up federal liquidity and attracted private-sector funding into Nigeria’s upstream oil ventures.

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Beyond policy obstruction, Dangote Refinery accused the association of mismanaging billions of naira in annual check-off dues to allegedly bankroll the “lavish lifestyles” of its leaders, without accountability to members. By contrast, the refinery highlighted its own record of economic contributions within a short period, citing road construction, worker training, the creation of thousands of Nigerian jobs, and a compensation structure that “outdistances the best in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

“The Dangote Group is the highest employer of labor in Nigeria and the highest contributor to the tax revenues of Nigeria and its sub-nationals. What comparable social responsibility has PENGASSAN, with its billions of Naira in annual check-off dues and subscriptions, lived up to?” the statement queried, challenging the union to publish its audited accounts for the past ten years. “Can it publish publicly its account for the last 10 years and list out its corporate responsibility activities within that timeframe?”

READ ALSO:Dangote Refinery Reduces Fuel Price Nationwide, Provides Update On Petrol Distribution

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The refinery insisted that PENGASSAN’s recent directive to withdraw services and cut off essential fuel supplies, including but not limited to petrol, diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and aviation fuel was reckless, lawless and dangerous. It said the order is not about protecting Nigerian workers, but it is about a cabal of oligarchs weaponising hardship against over 230 million Nigerians.

In the process, it (PENGASSAN) cares little if at all about the unbearable hardship and terror it would thereby inflict on all Nigerians, including but not limited to the provision of essential services in our hospitals and medical facilities, schools (nursery and right up to tertiary and research institutions), emergency services, communications facilities, transportation systems, etc,” it said.

Dangote Refinery called on the Federal Government and security agencies to step in immediately to protect the facility and the nation’s energy security, stressing that the union must not be allowed to “bully Nigerians into chaos and economic sabotage.”

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According to Tribune Online, the federal government has announced readiness to broker peace between Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN, inviting both to a meeting scheduled for Monday.

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