Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has tackled former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the President is clearing outstanding pensions owed to retired workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways—benefits left unpaid during Atiku’s time in government.
Keyamo said Tinubu approved and released N36 billion more than a month ago to settle the outstanding entitlements of former workers of the airline.
According to the minister, payments have begun reaching beneficiaries, adding that the workers’ union recently honoured the President for the intervention.
Reports indicate that the Federal Government has concluded payment of severance benefits to 2,100 former Nigeria Airways employees, more than 20 years after the airline’s liquidation in September 2004.
Keyamo’s comments followed a statement by Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who blamed Tinubu’s economic policies for Nigeria’s rising cost of living and pledged to reverse them if elected.
The Minister accused Atiku of hypocrisy, arguing that the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo—in which Atiku served as vice-president—liquidated the carrier and left thousands of workers without pensions and gratuities.
“To add salt to their wounds, you refused to pay them their pensions and gratuities, running into billions of naira,” Keyamo wrote on X.
“Twenty-two years later, after many of them have died out of frustration, President Bola Tinubu is now clearing the mess you left behind.”
He added that Atiku could not claim credit for the Obasanjo-Atiku government when convenient, while distancing himself from its decisions at other times.
