The Federal Government has paid N18bn in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former employees of Nigeria Airways, more than two decades after the liquidation of the national carrier.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this while explaining the administration’s efforts to settle inherited obligations owed to individuals, businesses and other beneficiaries.
Oyedele said 2,100 former workers covered by batches one to seven had already received their payments, while another 600 beneficiaries in batches eight and nine had been finalised for payment within the next few days.
The settlement followed a directive by President Bola Tinubu to address the outstanding obligations owed to the former workers.
The minister said the payment was not a favour from government but the fulfilment of a legitimate obligation to people who had waited for more than 20 years to receive their entitlements.
“This is ultimately not favour from government. It is your entitlement,” Oyedele said.
He apologised to the former workers for the prolonged delay and commended them for their patience throughout the process.
Oyedele explained that the government had initially intended to commence the payments about a month earlier but was delayed by the extensive verification process required to establish genuine claims.
He said government could not simply pay everyone who claimed to be a former employee without verifying personnel records and other relevant documents.
The verification exercise included biometric capture, validation of personnel records, confirmation of banking details and examination of beneficiary documentation.
According to him, the government decided to commence payment to beneficiaries whose claims had been successfully verified rather than wait until the entire exercise was completed.
He said the approach was designed to prevent fraudulent and duplicate claims while ensuring that genuine beneficiaries were not unnecessarily kept waiting.
The minister also disclosed that some former Nigeria Airways workers had died during the long period the benefits remained unpaid.
He said such cases would require payments to be processed through their next of kin, beneficiaries or estates, depending on the documentation available.
Oyedele said some cases could also require legal procedures but assured affected families that government would support efforts to ensure that legitimate benefits were eventually paid.
On the effect of inflation on benefits that had remained unpaid for more than two decades, the minister acknowledged that the purchasing power of money declines over time.
He, however, said government budgets and existing laws did not automatically provide for inflationary adjustments to old obligations.
He explained that the immediate priority was to pay amounts established by government records and supported by verified documentation, while any additional compensation for the loss of value would require a separate government decision.
Oyedele also stressed that there was no discrimination between junior and senior former Nigeria Airways employees in the payment exercise.
He said beneficiaries were being paid based on verification of their claims and documentation rather than their positions or categories while they worked for the airline.
The Nigeria Airways settlement is part of the Federal Government’s wider effort to clear inherited obligations and restore confidence in government commitments.
Oyedele said the same principle was being applied to other outstanding liabilities, including debts owed to contractors and obligations involving pensioners.
He said behind every government obligation were real people, families and businesses whose livelihoods could be affected by delayed payments.
According to him, the government must therefore balance the need to settle legitimate debts with the responsibility to protect public funds from fraudulent claims.
He said the verification process was intended to ensure that only genuine beneficiaries received government payments.
