The Federal Government, as part of its commitment, is poised to settle the outstanding severance package owed to former Nigeria Airways employees. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, revealed this during a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos.
He confirmed the government’s intention to clear the remaining monies owed to these former workers. The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) initiated this payment initiative in 2019, allocating approximately N5 billion for this purpose, benefiting about 1,000 former Nigeria Airways employees.
While Mr. Keyamo did not disclose specific financial details, he assured that the federal government is taking the matter seriously, and the ex-workers will soon receive the remainder of their severance pay.
Nigerian Airways ceased operations in 2003 after facing continuous struggles and depleting its aircraft fleet. The final payment to ex-employees, both domestic and overseas, had been pending until 2018 when the Federal Government, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, approved N22.68 billion for retirement benefits, representing approximately 50 percent of the total N45.3 billion entitlements for the former employees.
Initially, the ex-workers had claimed N78 billion as their retirement entitlement. However, this amount was revised following a verification exercise conducted by PICA and other stakeholders, aligning with the liquidated Nigerian Airways Ltd.’s service conditions.
The agreed sum of N45 billion was then designated as the total retirement benefits for the affected staff. Due to financial constraints, the payments were disbursed in two phases, with the first batch receiving their payments in 2019.
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