FG begins N18bn payout to ex-Nigeria Airways workers

More than two decades after Nigeria Airways was liquidated, the Federal Government has begun settling N18 billion in outstanding severance benefits owed to 2,700 former employees of the defunct national carrier.

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

Oyedele said 2,100 beneficiaries from batches one to seven had received their payments, while another 600 former workers in batches eight and nine had been cleared for payment.

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

The minister said the long wait had taken a toll on many of the former employees, with some dying before receiving their entitlements and leaving their families to pursue the claims.

“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,” Oyedele said.

He said the payments followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to resolve the inherited liability, adding that the government had opted to settle verified claims rather than allow the matter to remain unresolved.

“We recognise that no payment today can fully compensate for more than two decades of waiting, but it is important that government confronts these long-standing obligations rather than allowing them to remain unresolved for another generation,” he added.

The beneficiaries were subjected to verification procedures, including biometric capture and checks of their personal and banking details, to eliminate fraudulent claims.

Oyedele said additional verification would be conducted for cases involving outdated records, wrong bank details and deceased beneficiaries whose next of kin or estates still needed to complete the required documentation.

He clarified that the government was paying the verified amounts documented against the beneficiaries and would not adjust the claims for inflation despite the substantial erosion in the value of money over the past two decades.

The minister explained that the staggered payments were intended to ensure that beneficiaries whose claims had been fully verified did not have to wait for the resolution of outstanding cases.

He added that the settlement covered former employees across different categories and grades.

For workers who died before receiving their benefits, Oyedele said payments would be made to recognised next of kin or other legitimate beneficiaries after completion of the necessary legal processes.

The minister also disclosed that the government had paid outstanding debts owed to more than 12,000 indigenous contractors as part of a wider effort to clear inherited liabilities.

According to him, the government initially focused on contractors with verified claims of N50 million or less before extending the exercise to those owed up to N100 million.

Larger claims running into billions of naira, he said, could be addressed through separate arrangements, including negotiations and promissory notes.

Oyedele said the strategy was designed to prioritise smaller businesses that needed the funds to pay workers and meet other immediate obligations.

He warned contractors against paying commissions to anyone claiming to have the capacity to facilitate the release of their verified payments, describing such demands as illegal.

The minister said the Federal Government was also working to prevent the recurrence of massive inherited debts by making budget projections more realistic and ensuring that capital projects had identifiable funding sources.

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

Oyedele apologised to the former Nigeria Airways workers for the prolonged delay, stressing that the payments represented legitimate entitlements owed to them, rather than government favours.