20 years later, FG settles 2,700 Ex-Nigeria Airways workers

More than two decades after Nigeria Airways was liquidated, the Federal Government has begun paying N18bn in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former employees of the defunct national carrier.

The payment brings relief to workers who spent years waiting for entitlements that, in some cases, never came during their lifetime.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Friday at a press briefing at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.

He said 2,100 former workers covered by batches one to seven had already been paid, while another 600 beneficiaries in batches eight and nine had been cleared for payment.

“Altogether, this represents N18bn in benefits for 2,700 former workers,” Oyedele said.

The minister said some of the former employees had grown old while waiting for their entitlements, while others had died, leaving their families to pursue the payments.

“For more than two decades, following the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, many former employees have waited for their outstanding severance benefits. Some have grown old waiting. Some have sadly passed away, leaving their families to pursue what was legitimately due to them,” he said.

Oyedele said the payment followed a directive from President Bola Tinubu to resolve the long-standing obligation.

He acknowledged that the settlement could not make up for more than 20 years of waiting but said the government had chosen to confront the inherited liability rather than leave it for another generation.

The minister said the exercise was part of the government’s broader effort to settle verified inherited obligations, including outstanding payments to pensioners and indigenous contractors.

Before payments were approved, beneficiaries underwent extensive verification, including biometric capture and validation of their personal and banking details, to guard against fraudulent claims.

Oyedele said further verification would be conducted in cases involving outdated records, incorrect bank details and deceased beneficiaries whose next of kin or estates still needed to complete the required legal processes.

On whether the former workers’ entitlements had been adjusted for inflation after more than two decades, the minister said the government was paying the amounts contained in the documented and verified claims.

He acknowledged that inflation had significantly eroded the value of the money over the years but said there was no provision for inflationary adjustment in the settlement.

The payments are being made in batches, he explained, to ensure that verified beneficiaries do not remain in limbo while unresolved claims are being validated.

The benefits, according to the minister, cover former employees across different grades, without discrimination between junior and senior staff.

For beneficiaries who died before receiving their entitlements, he said payments would be made to their documented next of kin or other legitimate beneficiaries after the necessary legal processes.

Oyedele also disclosed that the Federal Government had paid outstanding debts owed to more than 12,000 indigenous contractors as part of its effort to clear accumulated obligations.

He said smaller contractors owed N50m or less were initially prioritised before the exercise was extended to verified claims of up to N100m.

Larger claims running into billions of naira, he added, could be addressed separately through negotiations and instruments such as promissory notes.

The minister said the strategy was designed to assist small businesses that depend on government payments to meet immediate obligations, including salaries.

He also warned contractors against paying commissions or inducements to officials to facilitate payment of legitimate claims, describing such demands as illegal.

Oyedele said the government was also working to prevent the recurrence of massive unpaid obligations by making budgets more realistic and ensuring that capital expenditure commitments were backed by identifiable sources of funding.

“We will do our best to ensure that the accumulated obligations of the past do not repeat themselves,” he said.

The minister apologised to the former Nigeria Airways workers for the prolonged delay, stressing that the payments were their legitimate entitlements, not favours from government.