Leading unions in Nigeria's aviation industry have kicked against the concession of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, describing the process as opaque and procedurally flawed, and calling for its immediate reversal.
The unions -- the Air Transport Staff Senior Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) -- raised the objections in a joint letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN.
The letter titled, "Enugu Airport Concession: An Outright Rejection", dated January 26, 2026, alleged that union representatives nominated to the concession committee set up by the ministry were sidelined during critical stages of the process.
The letter was signed by the unions' General Secretaries including Frances Akinjole (ATSSSAN), Sikiru Waheed (NUATE) and Abdulrasaq Saidu (ANAP).
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Daily Trust reports that the Minister had signed the agreement for the concession of the airport with the concessionaire, Aero Alliance.
At the signing he also stated that the rights and privileges of workers have been addressed, saying the workers have not been retrenched and that they remain employees of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
He said, "After the approval of the Federal Executive Council, subject to contract of course, we, in the ministry, and of course, our team in the Federal Airports Authority, led by the MD, and of course, officials of Aero Alliance, we have gone through a long process of negotiations that also involve the aviation unions. We did this agreement with the rights and privileges of workers uppermost in our minds.
"And let me say today that we have, in this agreement, fully respected and preserved the rights of the aviation workers. That was uppermost in our minds. The workers, to fully announce it, have not been retrenched."
But the unions countered the Minister, accusing the ministry of sidestepping mandatory labour issues that were meant to be embedded in the concession agreement.
According to the unions, discussions on labour matters were never concluded, and no formal agreement was reached or signed before the concession was finalised.
The letter read: "The execution of the final agreement became more disturbing because workers' representatives in the concession committee were effectively sidelined, thereby sidestepping the necessary labour issues that were supposed to be embedded in the contract after the expected agreement that addresses the labour issues had been signed with our unions.
"No agreement was ever reached with our unions. No agreement was ever signed with our unions in this regard. Hence, the process was incomplete to warrant the signing off of the concession agreement of the Enugu airport as it has happened last week."
The unions further argued that the alleged lack of transparency surrounding the process had triggered widespread agitation among Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) staff across the country.
"This patent lack of transparency that envelops the processes that culminated in the signing of the agreement has caused serious acrimonious agitation among FAAN staffers across Nigeria," the letter added.
Citing what they described as "a flagrant display of insensitivity" to the interests of affected workers, the unions rejected the concession agreement and urged the minister to reverse it to allow due process to be followed.
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"In view of the flagrant display of insensitivity to the interests of the would-be affected staff of the airport, our unions hereby reject the celebrated concession agreement and implore the honourable minister to urgently reverse the process to allow the proper things to be done," the unions said.
They also warned that workers across airports nationwide had been placed on red alert, with plans to embark on protests should the government fail to heed their demand for reversal.
"Sir while it remains our patriotic zeal to crave unfettered industrial harmony in the aviation space, our unions have, however placed our members in all the airports on red alert if our call for reversal is not headed in good time. An injury to one is an injury to all," the letter added.
