Ex-Nigeria Airways workers get N45bn severance package

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a N45 billion severance package for workers of the liquidated Nigeria Airways.

The Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced this yesterday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The affected workers had Wednesday in Lagos protested the Federal Government’s failure to pay their severance benefits running into N78 billion.

They had said they intended to draw government’s attention to their plight as many of them had died and others became homeless after the government liquidated the airline in 2003.

Sirika stated that past governments liquidated the Nigeria Airways without paying the entitlement of the workers.

He said: “I am happy to announce that Mr. President has approved N45 billion which has been confirmed to be the entitlements of this workers and the Ministry of Finance has been instructed to pay. The Ministry of Finance has written to me last week that they have received instructions to pay these workers and therefore they are going about setting up all the modalities to pay.

“It will not be paid through my ministry before somebody will say I have stolen it. It will be paid by Ministry of Finance through a process and that process will commence very soon.”

Sirika said the FEC approved the hosting of the International World Aviation Forum scheduled for November 20 in Abuja in which over 40 aviation ministers around the world would participate.