Again, herdsmen invade Enugu, kill seminarian

24—Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016
Plot to remove AIB Commissioner thickens
Stories by Lawani
Mikairu
EFFORT by some
members of staff of
Accident Investigation
Bureau, AIB, to remove the
Commissioner of the
Bureau, Dr Felix Abali has
intensified as the workers
union of the bureau has
been dragged into the plot
to unseat the commissioner.
The National Association of
Aircraft Pilots and
Engineers, NAAPE, was
recently enmeshed in
controversy with AIB. The
association questioned why
a member of staff was
placed on Level 15 instead
of Level 12.
Investigation revealed
that some members of the
association, which only has
six members and
inaugurated just about two
months ago in the bureau,
may have been sponsored
by some people in the
bureau who are bent on
removing
the
Commissioner, Dr. Felix
Abali.
The investigation further
revealed that “some of these
people had written
anonymous petitions
against Abali in the past to
the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission,
EFCC, the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other
Related Offences
Commission, ICPC,
Department of State
Service, DSS, the Nigeria
Police, the Ministry of
Aviation and even to the
presidency, accusing him of
corrupt practices.”
But, investigations
carried out by all the
relevant organisations,
including the presidency
exonerated Abali of all the
allegations levelled against
him.
A source in AIB explained
that after all the false
allegations failed, they have
now resorted into using the
unions to forcefully remove
Abali, trying to give
substance to allegation of
incompetence despite his
many years at the Federal
Aviation Administration,
FAA, and other renowned
aviation institutions.
According to some AIB
staff, who do not want to be
named, the deluge of
petitions and current
subterfuge are the
handiwork of the same
The deluge of
petitions and
current
subterfuge are the
handiwork of the
same cabal that
had fought past
administrations
since the
inception of the
bureau
cabal that had fought past
administrations since the
inception of the bureau.
They bitterly fought Dr
Sam Oduselu, the pioneer
Commissioner and Captain
Muhtar Usman before he
was posted to the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA). The same cabal
are at work to oust Dr Abali
hoping to gain power and
control the agency.
The source claimed that
the trade union is using staff
with baggage as
arrowheads in AIB. The
source added that one of
the NAAPE leaders in AIB
already had three
disciplinary issues in his
file awaiting management’s
resolutions even before the
inauguration of the union
in the bureau, stressing that
he now attempted to use the
unions to frustrate justice.
The local union leaders,
it was revealed, were
recently involved in
insulting the Commissioner
under the guise of trade
unionism. Before the
management could decide
what to do about it, NAAPE
had taken the matter to the
media portraying the
Commissioner as a violent
personality.
Although the National
secretariat is believed to be
reaching out to the AIB
management to preempt
possible sanction, the
option left to the
management is to decide
whether it wants to dance
to the union’s tune or set a
bad precedent of allowing
insubordination in the
organisation.
The source said it was
curious that the leadership
of NAAPE would not fight
for the general welfare of
its members but rather
pursues personal war
against the management.
AON calls for caution on moves to recover debts from airlines
THE Airline Operators of
Nigeria, AON, has
called on aviation agencies
who provide services to
airlines to tread cautiously
in their recent move to
recover debts from
domestic airlines in order
not to run them out of
business as they had ran out
many airlines out of
business in the past from
over billing. The Chairman
of AON, Captain Nogie
Meggison made this call in
Lagos.
According to Meggison,
“We strongly decry the
ongoing action by the
various government
agencies in the aviation
sector whereby they
threaten to deny airlines
services for their operations
or completely ground them
as this is likely to force
airlines out of business.”
He noted further that;
“Because of the current
economic hard times,
airlines have become a soft
target and are seen as a
cash cow for everyone else
to prey on easily. However,
the agencies need to
realize that air transport is
the engine of the economy.
Hence, if they disturb
Nigerian airlines then they
will damage the efforts of
President Muhammadu
Buhari to restore the
economy.”
“Without the airlines
there is no aviation in the
first place. It is because of
the airlines that airports are
built and managed by
FAAN. It is because of the
airlines that an agency like
NAMA exists to provide
navigational services."