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 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 received their payments, 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 noted that many of the affected workers had spent more than 20 years waiting for their entitlements, with some growing old and others dying before receiving their benefits.
“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 from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resolve the long-standing obligation.
According to Oyedele, while the settlement could not fully compensate beneficiaries for the prolonged delay, the government considered it necessary to address inherited obligations rather than allow them 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 said.
Oyedele said the payment was part of the government’s broader efforts to settle verified inherited liabilities, including outstanding obligations to pensioners and indigenous contractors.
He explained that the exercise followed an extensive verification process involving biometric capture and the validation of beneficiaries’ personal and banking details to prevent fraudulent claims.
The minister added that further verification would be conducted to resolve cases involving outdated records, incorrect bank details and deceased beneficiaries whose next of kin or estates still needed to complete the required procedures.
Responding to questions on whether the severance payments had been adjusted for inflation after more than two decades, Oyedele said the government was settling the obligations based on the amounts officially documented and verified.
He acknowledged that inflation had significantly eroded the value of the money over the years but said there was no provision for inflationary adjustments in the settlement.
