The Federal Government has concluded the payment of ?18 billion in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited, more than two decades after the national carrier was liquidated.
The Federal Ministry of Finance, in a statement on Friday, said 2,100 beneficiaries covered by Batches 1 to 7 had received their entitlements, while payments to another 600 beneficiaries in Batches 8 and 9 were being finalised.
The ministry said the beneficiaries in the last two batches were expected to receive their payments within days, bringing the total number of former Nigeria Airways workers covered by the exercise to 2,700.
The settlement follows an approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the Federal Government to clear the long-standing severance obligations owed to the former employees.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the payment reflected the government’s determination to address legitimate outstanding obligations and prioritise the welfare of Nigerians.
‘Behind these figures are people and families who have waited for years to receive what is legitimately due to them,’ Oyedele said.
He added that the government’s responsibility was to confront outstanding obligations, complete the necessary processes and, once resources were secured, ensure that affected beneficiaries felt the positive impact of government.
According to the ministry, the payment exercise involved extensive verification of beneficiary records, including biometric capture and validation of personal and banking information, to ensure that funds were paid to rightful beneficiaries.
The ministry said the process was undertaken under Oyedele’s direction, with relevant agencies identifying eligible beneficiaries, validating records and establishing the financial obligations before payments commenced.
It also acknowledged the collaboration of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, whose engagement with the Finance Ministry helped sustain efforts to resolve the matter.
The National Assembly Joint Committees on Aviation also played a role through their oversight of the outstanding benefits. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, and his House counterpart, Hon. Abdullahi Idris Garba, were said to have been actively involved in efforts to settle the claims.
Meanwhile, the government is preparing a second-phase mop-up exercise to capture eligible beneficiaries whose records could not be processed during the first phase.
The Director in charge of the Presidential Initiative and Continuous Audit (PICA) Department, Seldam Dangin, said the exercise would address inaccurate or outdated information, additional biometric verification and corrections to banking details.
It will also cover cases involving deceased beneficiaries, with next of kin or estates required to complete the necessary verification and legal processes before payment.
The mop-up exercise is expected to commence by the end of September or early October, subject to final arrangements.
The liquidation of Nigeria Airways in 2003 left thousands of former employees with unresolved severance and other entitlement claims, making the latest payment a major step towards closing one of the Federal Government’s long-running obligations to former public-sector workers.