The Federal Government has begun paying N18 billion in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways, more than two decades after the airline was liquidated.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing in Abuja.
Oyedele said 2,100 former workers in batches one to seven had received their payments, while 600 beneficiaries in batches eight and nine had been cleared for payment.
He said the beneficiaries cut across different categories of former workers, adding that payments were based on verified records following biometric and banking information checks.
According to the minister, some former workers had died while waiting for their entitlements, leaving their families to pursue the payments.
Oyedele said the exercise followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to resolve the long-standing obligation.
He acknowledged that the payment could not compensate for more than 20 years of delay but said the government was committed to clearing inherited obligations.
The minister added that payments to deceased beneficiaries would be made to their verified next of kin or estates after the required legal processes.
The Federal Government had previously approved N36 billion as the final settlement of outstanding severance benefits owed former Nigeria Airways workers. Recent reports indicate that payments have now commenced in batches.
