Former employees and pensioners of the defunct Nigeria Airways have appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu over the omission of their long-awaited N36 billion severance and pension payments from the 2026 budget that has deepened years of uncertainty over their entitlements.
The retirees say their hopes were renewed in 2025 when the Federal Government reportedly approved payment plans for their benefits, only for the latest budget documents to exclude the funds they were expecting.
In a letter dated 7 May, 2026 and addressed to the President, the ex-workers expressed frustration that neither the extended 2025 budget nor the 2026 Appropriation Bill contained any provision for the settlement.
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The correspondence, obtained on Monday, was signed by the Acting Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Nigeria Airways Branch, Comrade Olusegun Adeleke, and Secretary, Comrade Thomas Ojuderi. Copies were also sent to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
The group tagged the development as a painful setback after what they called earlier assurances that the outstanding liabilities would be cleared.
The letter stated, “We could not trace the N36 billion meant for us in the 2025/2026 Budget.”
It added that the omission had left members “sad and perplexed.”
The pensioners urged the President to intervene through an executive directive that would compel the relevant ministry to release their payments from any available funding source.
Describing Tinubu as their “last hope” after years of delays, they said, “We are appealing to your humanitarian gesture in this our pitiable situation.”
They further disclosed that the crisis has taken a heavy human toll. They alleged that more than 1,500 of the over 5,800 affected former staff have died while awaiting their entitlements. According to them, hardship, illness, and prolonged financial distress have worsened over the years.
Nigeria Airways, once the country’s national carrier, was liquidated in 2003. Since then, its former employees have remained locked in a long-running struggle over unpaid pensions, gratuities and severance packages, with successive administrations pledging resolution but without final closure.
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