Retired employees of the defunct Nigeria Airways have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene after discovering that their N36 billion pension entitlements were omitted from the 2025/2026 budget.
In a letter dated May 7, 2026, the former workers described the absence of any allocation for their payment as a “rude shock” that left them “sad and perplexed”.
“But it came as a rude shock to us when we could not trace the N36 billion meant for us in the 2025/2026 Budget,” the letter, signed by Acting Chairman Olusegun Adeleke and Secretary Thomas Ojuderi, stated.
The pensioners said they believed the matter had been resolved after President Tinubu approved the payment process in May 2025.
“At this juncture, we became sad and perplexed. We have no option but to return to Your Excellency to invoke your authority for an executive order directing the Honourable Minister of Finance to pay our pension from any source available,” they wrote.
The retirees described the President as their final hope after years of waiting since Nigeria Airways was liquidated in 2003.
“We know and believe that Mr. President is the only one to bail us out of the seemingly unending delay to our payment,” the retirees stated. “We are appealing to your humanitarian gesture in this our pitiable situation.”
The letter also highlighted the human toll of the prolonged delay, with the group claiming that more than 1,500 out of over 5,800 affected pensioners and former staff members have died from hardship, poverty, and frustration while awaiting payment of their entitlements.
