The Federal Government has commenced the payment of N18bn in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former workers 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 on Friday during a press briefing at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.
Oyedele said 2,100 former workers in 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,” he said.
The minister said some of the affected workers had grown old while waiting for their benefits, while others had died, leaving their families to pursue the outstanding entitlements.
“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 payment followed a directive by President Bola Tinubu to resolve the long-standing obligation.
According to him, although the settlement could not compensate for more than two decades of waiting, the government considered it necessary to resolve inherited obligations rather than allow them to linger.
“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.
Oyedele said the exercise formed part of the government’s broader efforts to clear verified inherited obligations, including outstanding payments to pensioners and indigenous contractors.
He explained that the payment to the former airline workers followed extensive verification, including biometric capture and validation of personal and banking information, to prevent fraudulent claims.
The minister said the government would undertake further verification to address cases involving outdated information, incorrect bank details and deceased beneficiaries whose next of kin or estates were required to complete the relevant processes.
Responding to questions on whether the payments had been adjusted for inflation after more than 20 years, Oyedele said the government was settling the obligations based on the amounts documented and verified.
He acknowledged that inflation had substantially reduced the value of money over the period but said there was no provision for inflation adjustments in the settlement.
The minister further said payments were being made in batches because the government did not want verified beneficiaries to continue waiting while outstanding claims were being validated.
He said the benefits covered different categories of former Nigeria Airways employees, without distinction between junior and senior workers.
For beneficiaries who died before receiving their entitlements, Oyedele said payments would be made to their documented next of kin or other beneficiaries after the required legal processes had been completed.
Oyedele also disclosed that the Federal Government had paid outstanding obligations to more than 12,000 indigenous contractors as part of efforts to clear accumulated debts.
He said the government initially prioritised smaller contractors owed N50m or less before extending payments to those with verified claims of up to N100m.
According to him, larger claims running into billions of naira could be addressed separately through negotiations and instruments such as promissory notes.
The minister said the approach was intended to prioritise small businesses that required the payments to meet salaries and other immediate obligations.
He warned contractors against paying commissions or inducements to government officials to facilitate payment of verified claims, describing such demands as illegal.
Oyedele added that the government was seeking to prevent another accumulation of unpaid obligations by making the budget more realistic and ensuring that capital expenditure commitments were backed by identifiable funding sources.
He said, “We will do our best to ensure that the accumulated obligations of the past do not repeat themselves.”
The minister apologised to the former Nigeria Airways workers for the prolonged delay, stressing that the payments were entitlements rather than favours from the government.