Crisis, in-fighting rock AON over election guidelines

Airline under their umbrella body, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) may be heading towards the precipice as the organisation’s November 27, 2023 election to pick their principal officers.

The situation is likened to the proverbial Things Fall Apart where the centre may no longer hold for the group and the various airline operators.

The entrenched interests and ulterior motives of many members of the body are truly tearing the body apart. More worrisome is the forthcoming election that has pitched operators against one another.

The animosity amongst the operators and the furore generated over the modality for the forthcoming election has pitched airlines against each other and made a mockery of the entire electioneering process of a body that represents a majority of the airline operators.

The body has broken into different camps with some of them querying the electoral body’s guideline for the election as constitutionally illegal and not valid and wondering why they cannot follow the law with many operators cautioning the electoral umpire not to set AON ablaze by taking the operators for granted by continuing to promote illegality.

The AON President had directed after advice by the Legal Secretary that nomination forms were still available for pick up by interested members, stressing that nomination forms will remain available until close of business on Friday, November 10, 2023, in line with the guidelines that were sent out earlier.

Aviation Metric learnt that the wrangling in the AON is capable of destroying the association if not well handled as claims that some operators that are not bonafide members of the Board of Trustees and not in good financial standing wield influence and push to change the election date.

A resolution at a meeting held only a couple of weeks ago stated that elections be held within the next one month of the current executive’s tenure.

To them, the Board of Trustees if at all legal at this point has no powers to overturn the resolution of the larger house, adding that the role of the Board of Trustees is advisory and not supervisory as claimed.

They pleaded to some members not to use personal grouse with individuals within the AON body to foist negativity that could undermine the gains of the body, stressing that the current actions of members of the group could set the body ablaze.

Wole Shadare