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Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has revealed that he knows the position taken by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar during the Federal Executive Council debate over unpaid Nigeria Airways pensions under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Fani-Kayode, however, declined to disclose whether Atiku supported or opposed the payment, insisting that decisions taken by the administration were collective responsibilities.
The former minister made the disclosure in a post on X while responding to Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo, who had accused Atiku of hypocrisy over his criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s handling of Nigeria’s economy.
“As for His Excellency Waziri @atiku I know what side of the divide he was during that debate in council but I will not share that publicly because whatever decision was finally taken was a collective one,” Fani-Kayode stated.
“We bore and still bear the consequences of that decision together as a Government.”
Fani-Kayode explained that, as Minister of Aviation in 2006, he presented a memorandum to the Federal Executive Council seeking approval for the payment of outstanding pensions owed to former Nigeria Airways workers.
According to him, the proposal followed recommendations by a committee chaired by the then Head of Service, Yayale Ahmed.
He disclosed that the memorandum was rejected following opposition from cabinet members who believed that former employees and officials of the defunct airline had contributed to its collapse.
“Sadly the memo was not approved because there were elements in the cabinet that were so angry with the former Boards and management teams of the defunct Nigerian Airways that they opposed my memo vehemently,” he said.
“I did not share that view but sadly I and those that supported me were in a minority and we lost the debate.”
The former minister also defended Obasanjo against suggestions that his administration was responsible for the airline’s collapse.
He claimed that Nigeria Airways had 32 functional aircraft when Obasanjo left office as military Head of State in 1979 but only one non-functional aircraft when he returned as civilian president in 1999.
Fani-Kayode attributed the airline’s collapse to years of alleged corruption, mismanagement, mounting debts and operational failures.
“The company was liquidated primarily due to chronic insolvency, operational collapse and mismanagement in its operations which took place between 1979 and 1999,” he stated.
He maintained that the liquidation, completed in 2004, followed unsuccessful efforts to rescue the airline.
Fani-Kayode acknowledged that the decision left outstanding pension obligations, which subsequent administrations under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari partly addressed.
He commended Keyamo and the Tinubu administration for the latest efforts to settle the remaining entitlements.
“It is gratifying that under your leadership the remainder of the pensions have been paid. I only wish we had done that when we were in office,” he said.
Keyamo had earlier accused Atiku of abandoning Nigeria Airways workers during his tenure as vice-president, alleging that thousands lost their jobs without receiving their pensions and gratuities.
The aviation minister claimed that Tinubu recently approved and released ₦36 billion to settle outstanding entitlements owed to the affected workers.
He described Atiku’s criticism of the current administration as hypocrisy, accusing him of selectively claiming credit for the Obasanjo government’s achievements while distancing himself from its controversial decisions.
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