The Federal Government has released an additional ₦4.04 billion for the settlement of entitlements owed to 600 former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways, bringing announced payments to about ₦22.04 billion as it works through a backlog of claims dating back more than two decades.
The payment is part of ongoing efforts to clear outstanding severance benefits owed to former employees of the liquidated national carrier, many of whom have waited for years to receive their entitlements.
The latest disbursement covers Batches 010 and 011 of verified beneficiaries and follows a ₦18 billion payment announced in September for 2,700 former workers across the first nine batches.
The two tranches now cover 3,300 former employees.
In a statement, Maryann Duke, Senior Special Assistant on Communications and Press Secretary to the Minister of Finance, said the release reflected the government’s commitment to meeting verified obligations to eligible former workers.
The statement said the 600 beneficiaries in the latest batch were entitled to gross severance benefits of ₦4.251 billion.
After deductions of ₦212.55 million, the net amount approved for payment was ₦4.038 billion.
Duke said payments were being processed in batches after checks on beneficiaries and their records, a method officials say is intended to ensure that funds reach the rightful recipients.
The ministry acknowledged the prolonged wait faced by former employees and their families, while stressing that verification procedures remain necessary to protect public funds.
It, however, did not disclose how many beneficiaries remain unpaid or provide a timetable for completing the exercise.
According to the statement, Nigeria Airways, once the country’s dominant national carrier, ceased operations in 2003 and was subsequently liquidated in 2004, leaving thousands of former employees with unresolved severance claims.
Duke said the batch-by-batch approach has become the central mechanism for addressing those liabilities, although the pace of payments continues to depend on the completion of verification.
For the latest group of 600 former workers, she said, the release marks another step toward closure.
For the remaining eligible beneficiaries, however, the full resolution of Nigeria Airways’ severance obligations remains a work in progress, according to the statement.
