March 10, (THEWILL) – The National Association of Aircrafts Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), has appealed to the Federal Government to wade into the lingering crisis of fuel scarcity in the country.
In an official statement issued on Thursday, signed by the NAAPE President, Comrade Abednego Galadima, the body observed that the hike in price of aviation fuel in the country and the scarcity of the product is capable of crippling domestic operators and by extension, the Nigerian aviation industry.
They stated that they are very worried about this issue as it has made travelling very difficult for passengers and caused much disruption in the operations of domestic airlines.
“The industry is still recovering from the negative impact of the pandemic and many airlines haven’t completely recovered. If this issue of scarcity is not immediately addressed by the Federal Government, not only would the airlines be negatively impacted, the ripple effect will be felt in the aviation downstream sector which may lead to job losses.
“It has been reported that the House of Representatives will convene a meeting of industry stakeholders, with a view to solving the issue. But we don’t want it to stop at that”, it stated.
NAAPE further advised that the executive arm of government, should as a matter of urgency, address the issues causing the scarcity and price hike so that normalcy can return to the industry.
Earlier, the House of Representatives leadership has made moves to address the aviation fuel crisis.
At the plenary recently, the House resolved to summon the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, Oil marketers and Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), for meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase and the Chairmen of of Committees on Aviation, Petroleum Upstream and Downstream for a meeting to seek a solution to the crisis.
The development was sequel to a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon Nnolim Nnaji, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aviation.
The motion was titled, “Urgent Need To Investigate/intervene on The Sudden Scarcity And High Cost Of Aviation Fuel Which Has Created An Existential Threat To Airline Operations And Requires Immediate Intervention By The Federal Government.”
Presenting the motion before the House during the plenary last week, Honourable Nnaji observed that the current crisis in Eastern Europe has created so much global tension and has raised the cost of crude oil to over $125.
He further noted that the situation has been worsened by the fact that, “Nigeria imports Jet-A1 (aviation fuel), used by airlines for their flight operations and it’s astronomical hike can impede on airlines’ services.”
Hon Nnaji equally disclosed that the product, which was sold for N190 a litre in 2021, had risen to above N600 a litre. Adding “to make matter worse, the oil marketers are alleged to be demanding for upfront cash payments from the airlines.”
The Aviation Committee Chairman also noted that, if urgent steps were not immediately taken to ameliorate the situation, airlines and passengers would continue to suffer several consequential economic and travel crises that might lead to total shutdown of air transport services.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
