400 Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers Await ₦36bn Payment Approval

About 400 former employees of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited are still waiting for the payment of their outstanding entitlements, amounting to ₦36 billion. The Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) disclosed this situation and called on the Federal Government to act swiftly on the recovered presidential approval document that authorizes the payment.

ASRTI President, Air Commodore (rtd.) Ademola Onitiju, described the delay as a “grave injustice” to the former workers. A four-member delegation of Concerned Elders visited Abuja from June 16 to 18 to investigate the delay.

They met with officials from the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and the Federal Ministry of Finance, who revealed that the approval document was initially missing. John Waitono from the Ministry of Finance confirmed the document's absence, while Akor Abbah, the ministry's Technical Adviser, stated that the payment process could not proceed without it.

The approval has since been located, and ASRTI has urged the government to process the funds immediately while demanding accountability for the earlier misplacement of the document.