Nigeria: NUATE petitions Keyamo over mismanagement of Aero Contractors by AMCON

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) has petitioned the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo over what it called mismanagement of assets belonging to Aero Contractors by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) .

The immediate past General Secretary of the union, Olayinka Abioye in an open letter to the Minister dated September 26, 2023, alleged that the activities of the management in connivance with AMCON in recent time lacked transparency, asking government to open the books of the troubled carrier.

Abioye alleged that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi, and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the airline mismanaged the sum of N60 million on one overseas trip at the expense of a company that is managing to survive.

Abioye also accused the management of the airline of selling the only remaining known asset of the airline at the Ikeja Government Reserved Area (GRA) under suspicious circumstances and in contravention of laid-down rules.

He claimed that a standing committee set up for the purpose of Aero Contractor’s property was not aware of the sales of the airline’s guest house, while there was no record in the coffers of the airline concerning the sales of the property.

The letter read in part: “As you may be aware, Aero operates only three machines; one Boeing, one Dash-8 and one Puma Helicopter. All these machines are generating more than enough revenue for Aero, which enables her to pay staff salaries and other sundry expenditures.

“We must however praise the tenacity of the CEO who encouraged and empowered the functionality of the best MRO yet in Nigeria at the moment as it is on record that the AERO MRO services virtually all B737s of domestic airline operators.

“Be that as it may, it has been discovered that enough transparency is not being exhibited and or displayed by the management as the CEO and his CFO mismanaged a whooping sum of N60 million on a single overseas trip at the expense of a company managing to survive.

“Nigerians may also ask Aero management what have they done with the humongous money made from this year’s hajj operations and what has the management done with such monies as there are hundreds of former members of Aero who were disgracefully declared redundant some years ago, yet, they have not been paid their redundant benefits till date while management shares the booty.”