FG Begins N18bn Severance Payment To 2,700 Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers

 

By Abel Chigozie 

The Federal Government has commenced the payment of N18 billion in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former employees of the defunct Nigeria Airways, more than two decades after the national carrier was liquidated. 

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this in Abuja while briefing journalists.

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

According to the minister, the payments amount to a total of N18 billion for the 2,700 beneficiaries.

He noted that many of the affected former workers had waited for more than 20 years to receive their entitlements, with some growing old and others dying before the outstanding benefits were settled.

Oyedele said the payment was made following a directive by President Bola Tinubu to resolve the long-standing obligation owed to the former Nigeria Airways workers.

The minister acknowledged that the payment could not fully make up for the prolonged delay but said the government was determined to settle inherited obligations rather than allow them to remain unresolved.

He added that the exercise formed part of the administration’s broader effort to clear verified inherited debts, including outstanding payments to pensioners and indigenous contractors.

Oyedele also warned contractors against paying commissions or inducements to government officials in exchange for facilitating payment of verified claims, stressing that such demands were illegal.