Crisis rocks air transport employees union over doctored constitution -Investigation

BY CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO

Crisis is currently rocking the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) following alleged doctoring of the unions’ constitution by the national delegates’ planning committee ahead of next month’s delegates’ conference.

Members and the executive officers are currently at loggerheads as a result of the alteration of the NUATE sacred document.

The Daily Times investigations revealed that the union’s constitution states that to be eligible for nomination and election as a delegate, a candidate must be a member in good financial standing in the union and must have been actively involved for one year proceeding his nomination and election.

It also stipulates that only members of good financial standing in the union shall have the right to nominate candidates for election as delegates and to vote at election of delegates.

But members are aggrieved by the renewed election guidelines of the NUATE, dated 16 October, 2023 and signed by the general secretary, Ocheme Aba.

According to the said national delegates’ conference Planning / Organizing Committee, only approved delegates to the conference were eligible to stand for election in any position.

One of the aggrieved members, however, put the record straight: “Delegates are the only people who can vote. They manipulated it (constitution)when they said that only delegates can stand for election. It is totally wrong and that is what they said. ‘Only approved delegates’ can contest for election is totally wrong. All financial members of NUATE can stand for election to any post, but not all financial members can vote: only delegates can vote and those delegates are decided by the constitution based on their financial standing in the affiliate.”

According to Rule 5, ”no new rules shall be made or any rules altered, amended or rescinded unless agreed by a majority vote in a secret ballot at the National Delegates conference of the union.”

The controversy became messier when the NUATE secretariat started requesting for letter of employment, national identity cards among others, before a candidate will be issued form for a position –an act which, some claimed, was an insult as every member had joined the union with the requisite documents and the union has been collecting check-off dues from members through their respective organizations.

Those opposed to the alleged alteration insist that no NUATE member joined the union without being an employee of an organization in the aviation industry and that the present leadership was out to manipulate the delegates’ conference.

Our correspondent learnt that there was controversy over the delegates’ list that is expected at the conference even as the union leadership failed to publish the list of delegates to the conference, against the usual practice.

It was also learned that some organizations have received their delegates’ list but chairmen of those organizations have not seen the said list.

“Even those that sent delegates’ list, the list is padded. Imagine a situation where somebody’s name in NAMA is posted in NCAA,” a reliable source said

It was gathered that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) branch of the union, where the current president is a staff and which is supposed to have three ‘cohort members’ now. has eight — which is a violation of the constitution of only three cohort members.

Presently, there is no clear cut position on the delegates’ conference as aggrieved members have vowed to fight the alleged injustice and manipulation.

Subsequently, they dismissed all the conditions or guidelines listed as ultra vires, null and void.

Controversy has trailed the election following the inability of the current executive, led by Comrade Ben Nnabue, to conduct election at the end of their tenure over a year ago.

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Contacted, Comrade Aba said the list for the delegates’ conference is absolutely in line with NUATE’s constitution, adding that nothing will be manipulated.

Aba said a planning committee was in change of the conference and will submit a compiled list while a credentials committee will also screen contestants after which the list will be sent to the central working committee of the union for final approval.

He, therefore, urged those complaining to channel their complaints to the appropriate authorities.

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