Labour • Created December 20, 2017 20:24

Ex-Airway workers take pension battle to National Assembly

After protesting at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja without favourable outcome, the retirees of the Nigeria Airways have taken the battle for the prompt payment of the approved N45bn pension to the National Assembly, it was learnt. Some of the retirees were at the Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Tuesday to […]

Ex-Airway workers take pension battle to National Assembly

After protesting at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja without favourable outcome, the retirees of the Nigeria Airways have taken the battle for the prompt payment of the approved N45bn pension to the National Assembly, it was learnt.

Some of the retirees were at the Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Tuesday to demand the payment of the entitlement approved in September by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The protesters led by the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Nigeria Airways branch, Comrade Sam Nzene reportedly met with the Permanent Secretary in the ministry who reportedly told them that their payment was awaiting budgetary approval from the National Assembly.

Based on this, the Chairman told Daily Trust in a telephone interview yesterday that the union has written fresh letter to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki to fast-track the payment of their pension.

It would be recalled that the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had promised the retirees that their pension would be paid before Christmas.

However, the chairman said the promise is no longer feasible as Christmas is less than a week, lamenting that many of their members continue to die on a daily basis while some are bed-ridden.

Daily Trust learnt that on Tuesday and Wednesday, two of the retirees were announced to have died on a Facebook group, Bring Back Nigeria Airways, a platform dedicated to share information on the developments regarding the payment of the retirees’ pension. 

Nzene added that one former worker of the defunct national carrier slumped when he heard that he would not be able to get his entitlement for Christmas.

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