President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the second and final tranche of N22.6 billion pension for former staff of the defunct Nigerian Airways.
Permanent Secretary, Special Duty, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Mohammed Dikwa disclosed this on Tuesday.
Dikwa promised the protesting former staff of the company who had earlier blocked entrance and exit points of the ministry, preventing staff, including the Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, from leaving, that data capturing would commence on Wednesday despite the holiday.
He, however, expressed disappointment over the protest, noting that it was an embarrassment to Minister, Ahmed who, according to him, had tried hard to resolve the challenge.
In October 2018, Ahmed announced that government had released N22.6 billion being 50 percent of what they were being owed. Following which verification was conducted in several locations across the country and 50 percent of their entitlements paid.
However, some missed the verifications while dependants of those who have died were asked to report in Abuja.
But they have been unable to get payment and the government failed to conduct screening exercise as it promised. Tuesday being the last day of the current officials’ tenure, the affected former staffers took to protest to press home their demands.
Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Nigeria Airways branch, Comrade Sam Nzene who spoke to journalists during the protest said the consultant who was meant to conduct the screening disappeared claiming that his contract had not been regularised and that government was owing him.
