Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers Get Payment Alerts, Laud Buhari

Some former workers of the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways, have started getting their payment alerts after the completion of their verification, findings by Daily Trust show yesterday. Daily Trust’s reporter gathered that those who received their payments between Monday and yesterday were those who were verified last week. The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), a department in the Ministry of Finance, carried out the verification of the former Airways workers ahead of the disbursement of N22.5 billion approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. The amount is the 50 per cent of N45 billion being the total approved pension for the affected workers numbering about 6,000. The verification took place in Lagos, Kano and Enugu. There were some hitches and delays in the verification exercise with the affected workers decrying the slow pace of the exercise. But Minister of Finance Zaynab Ahmed, whose representatives visited some centres last week, assured that government had approved the process and that those verified would start receiving alerts this week. And in line with her assurance, the beneficiaries have started smiling to the banks after receiving alerts in millions of naira, our reporter learnt from some of the pensioners. One of the retirees, Mr. Chris Owamagbe, who spoke to newsmen at the venue of the verification in Lagos said some of his former colleagues in the airline received payment alerts on Tuesday night. He said: “I can confirm to you that some of our colleagues have started receiving alerts. One of my friends among the admin staff of the airline, called me this morning (Wednesday) to inform me that he had received payment alert. “I believe once I am through with the processes, I will receive my own alert within few days. We are all anxious to receive the payments. We worked for it, but unfortunately someone used his political fiat to liquidate the airline. That singular decision pushed us to where we are today. But, I want to appreciate President Buhari for what he has done.”