By Chinelo Obogo
Captain Bunmi Gindeh of the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), has emerged the president of the National Association of Air Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) beating his rival, Francis Igwe, an aircraft engineer with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The election took place on Friday, September 27th I. Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, with Gindeh polling 51 polling while Igwe got 17 votes.
Mudi Muhammad, an aircraft engineer at Arik Air, emerged the national deputy president. He had no opponent. While Adewale Adenugba won a second time as the first trustee.
Other elective positions were financial secretary, won by Edwin Udoh, Publicity Secretary, won by Blessing Ahmadu, Michael Nicholas won the position of second trustee.
Speaking after emerging victorious
Gindeh expressed appreciation to the outgoing administration, saying they worked very hard to achieve a lot. “I must commend my predecessor, Abednego Galadima, for taking the initiative to set up a training institute. It was an amazing idea and we will work very hard to utilise that facility to meet with international standards. He performed well and we owe him a lot of gratitude,” he said.
On how his campaign played out, he said: “There was an intensive campaign before now but we went to all the various chapters and spoke to them on why they should vote for us. We are a team. It wasn’t just me, the deputy president was the engine room of my campaign and I appreciate the work he put in.
”During the campaign, we talked about the welfare of our members and we would be pushing for standardised contracts across board like we have abroad. We are also going to advocate for safety for our members. We will also improve our secretariat so that it can be up to date.
”One of the issues that came up during the campaign was that pilots would not have the time to carry out union functions but the beautiful thing which I have learned is to delegate responsibilities to my team. We would get more done that way. I was in the NCAA but was seconded to the NSIB, so my chapter is the NSIB. The public service rule is very clear on that.”
Mohammed who emerged as his deputy expressed happiness , saying he is excited to work with someone whom he has always wanted to work with. “I want to work with Capt. Gimdeh because he has a big vision for NAAPE. The outgoing leadership has done their best and we are grateful to them. We are going to build on the foundation they have laid You can see that we don’t have anything pppilots in the association but he has said that his goal is to bring in more pilots.”
Igwe who conceded defeat , congratulated Gindeh and pledged to work to ensure that the association remains united. While the immediate past President, Galadima urged the newly elected administration to work for the unity of the association.
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