The Secretary General, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, Mr Abdulraq Saidu, has urged the Federal Government to replace sacked directors in the aviation industry with professionals.

After changing executives of the Aviation and Aerospace Development Agencies’ executives, directors of the affected agencies were sacked on December 14.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, Saidu urged the Federal Government to ensure that professionals in the sector were appointed as directors for professionalism and efficiency.

He said that the directors should always be appointed from within the aviation sector and not based on political considerations.

Mr Saidu praised the appointment of the new Nigeria Airspace Management Agency chief executive who he said was a professional from within the aviation sector.

He said using professionals was good for continuity, urging the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo to toe that path. .

He said changing directors whenever new executives were appointed was a welcome development because some of them might not want to submit to the new leadership.

“It is only the chief executive that is a political appointment. Directorate is a career-oriented one because you will rise from the system to become director. You cannot come from outside to direct the air traffic controllers that you don’t know anything about or aeronautical engineers that you don’t know anything about or aviation fire and safety security that you don’t know anything about.

“We appeal and advise the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo to listen and agree with us that the position of directorate across these agencies must be within the systems in FAAN, NAMA, NCAA, NiMET and NCAT must be from within the system,” he said.

He said if the directors were not taken from within the system, the chief executives of those agencies would fail, adding that it had been the precedence.

He urged President Bola Tinubu and Mr Keyamo to correct the anomalies which had negatively impacted the aviation sector in the past, adding that the union does not want them to fail.

He said the Act that established the agencies under the aviation industry gave the governing board of directors powers to run them on a day-to-day basis.

He explained that the sector for eight years did not have a governing board, stating that the one hurriedly constituted towards the end of the past administration of president Muhammadu Buhari was not inaugurated.

He said effective supervision was important, adding that it would be better to appoint a governing board comprising directors from the sector for better management of the industry.

He also queried the oversight functions of the Senate Committee on Aviation, adding that there were various problems in the sector including the runways dilapidation.

(NAN)