Fani-Kayode Reveals What He Knows About Atiku’s Position On Nigeria Airways Pension Debate

Former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has claimed he knows the position former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar took during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) debate over unpaid Nigeria Airways pensions under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

He, however, stated that he would not disclose whether Atiku supported or opposed the payment.

Naija News reports that the former minister spoke 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.

“We bore and still bear the consequences of that decision together as a Government,” Fani Kayode wrote.

Fani-Kayode explained that, as Minister of Aviation in 2006, he presented a memorandum to the Federal Executive Council seeking approval to pay 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 said cabinet members rejected the memorandum, arguing that former employees and officials of the defunct airline 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,” he said.

The former minister also defended Obasanjo against suggestions that his administration caused 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.