From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The pensioners of the Nigerian Airways have written the House of Representatives, calling on the lawmakers to amend the votes and proceedings of 8th March, 2021, to enable the Federal Ministry of Aviation to include them in the ongoing payoff exercise ahead of the kick-off of the new national carrier.
In a letter signed by one of the concerned pensioners, Umar Ndanusa Kawu and made available to journalists in Kaduna on Monday, stated that, their petition earlier submitted to the 9th National Assembly on March 2022, was not against the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, but the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
The letter clarified that, the pensioners’ petition was wrongly presented to the National Assembly by the office of Assembly Clerk, which led to the wrong capturing of the matter in votes and proceedings of 8th Match, 2021.
According to the pensioners, they had reliably gathered that the Clerk had since noticed the gap and so directed the Assembly’s legal officer to present the matter before the Assembly amends the votes and proceedings, which to their shock had not been done.
The letter noted that, the matter has put the lives of the officials of the pensioners at great risk, as they have been subjected to constant travel of the “dangerous” Abuja road to press home their demands with the Legal Officer, which has consistently fallen on deaf ears.
According to the letter, “after all our efforts are thwarted, we are forced to write this letter to the leadership of the 9th National Assembly for their urgent intervention.
“We are therefore appealing on compassionate ground to the Assembly to as a matter of urgency instruct the Legal Officer to act and come up with an achievable result of this matter, which has been pending on him. This will enable the Minister/Ministry of Aviation to include us in the ongoing pay off exercise before the kick-starting of the new National Carrier,” the letter read.”
