Economy
REVEALED: Real Reasons for Delay in Payment of Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers
By Olusegun Koiki
Daily Independent newspaper has unearthed the real reasons former workers of the defunct Nigerian Airways are yet to receive the severance package despite President Muhammadu giving the approval for the payment.
It was gathered that the conflict between the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) and the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), a department under the Ministry of Finance, is stalling final payment of severance benefit to ex-workers of the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways.
Independent learnt that the conflict between the two government bodies is as a result of who gets the administrative charge from the severance package of the ex-workers.
Recommendations
The inter-ministerial committee raised by the government verified the status of ex-workers of Nigeria Airways and came up with N78 billion benefit for the former staff of the airline. The committee recommended one percent administrative charge of the total sum to be given to any government agency that disburses the money to the ex-workers. This amounted to N735 million.
In its recommendation, the inter-ministerial committee also said that the OAGF should disburse the N78 billion to all the beneficiaries.
However, PICA in its own recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari reduced the total benefit to N43 billion, but increased the administrative charge to N2.1 billion without recourse to any percentage as recommended by the inter-ministerial committee.
Breakdown Of Benefit
A document seen by Independent revealed the breakdown of the N78 billion benefit thus: serving staff, N20.9 billion; presidential fleet, N1.4 billion; Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), N4 billion; retired staff from SAHCOL, N207.7 million; properties, N1 billion and catering, N1.1 billion.
Others are pensioners, N37.3 million; deferred pensioners, N920.5 million; 1988 Group, N6.4 billion; one percent administrative charge, N735 million; one percent mark-up contingencies, N735 million; salary of four retained staff working on the benefit for 12 months, N10.5 million; office running cost at N100,000 monthly for 12 months, N1.2 million and supplementary at N3 billion.
Interest In Administrative Charge
A reliable source told Independent that PICA, which was set up by President Buhari in 2015, few months after coming into office to carry out final verification of any payment by the Federal Government suddenly became interested in payment of the severance package to the former workers of the airline because of the administrative charge involved.
The document revealed that the inter-ministerial committee had recommended the sum of N78 billion as the total severance package for 10 years for the workers, including pension arrears for the period after the physical verification of about 6,000 beneficiaries.
The workers had initially insisted on another 20 years payment of severance package as agreed with the Federal Government in 2009 before the payment of five years of severance package to them by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009.
PICA in its recommendation to the government slashed the sum to just N43 billion, and expunged the 10 years pension arrears as agreed with the former workers and their unions by the inter-ministerial committee.
Anger
However, sources said the reduction of a massive N35 billion from the recommended and approved N78 billion by the inter-ministerial committee did not go down well with the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who insisted that the earlier approved sum must be paid.
A source close to the committee confided in our correspondent that the Federal Government was ready to pay the total sum to the ex-workers who have lost at least 700 of their members since the airline was liquidated in 2013 to avoidable deaths, but PICA is a stumbling block to that payment, which has further put the government in a dilemma.
The source wondered how PICA arrived at the N2.1 billion administrative charge after reducing the total sum to be paid to the ex-workers to N43 billion which represented 45 percent reduction.
“PICA is the only body that is standing between the payment of the final severance package to us and the government. President Buhari has agreed to pay the total sum to us until everything was taken to PICA for final verification.
“PICA without following due process, suddenly reduced our total benefit to just N43 billion, but ironically increased its own administrative charge to N2.1 billion, which is a difference of N1.3 billion. And the government thinks they can come up with a national carrier without first settling us, I think that will be practically impossible.
“Several bodies are ready to take the government to court even outside the country. I can assure you that anywhere their aircraft flies to such an aircraft would be impounded until all debts are settled. We are talking of ex-workers in Europe and several other African countries. Some of them are already in court to ensure their payments. PICA is not helping matters and may make the case worse for impending investors.”
It would be recalled that apart from the Nigerian staff of the airline who are owed pension arrears, outstations like those in Rome, Saudi Arabia, Benin Republic, Cameroon, Dubai and all the French speaking countries in Africa are also yet to benefit from the severance package.
Only staff of the airline in United Kingdom and United States were paid their entitlement of 25 years severance package in full.
The total sum of N29.1 billion, which represented five years severance package was paid to the former workers of the airline by the late Yar’Adua in 2009 after years of agitation by the ex-workers.
Source: Daily Independent
By Adedapo Adesanya
Despite signs that Nigeria’s headline inflation is easing, rising food prices continue to threaten the country’s inflation outlook, the chief executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Mr Muda Yusuf, has warned.
He noted that structural inflationary pressures in the real economy remain pronounced despite improving macroeconomic stability.
In a policy brief released following the inflation report, he noted that headline inflation eased marginally, while month-on-month change moderated from 1.75 per cent to 1.66 per cent, indicating that headline inflation has largely plateaued.
According to him, the dominant concern in the latest inflation report is the renewed acceleration in food inflation.
This growth, he said, suggested that food prices have resumed an upward trajectory after a brief period of moderation.
Warning that a renewed increase in food inflation has significant economic and social implications, he stressed that food inflation remained the biggest driver of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, stressing that rising food prices continue to erode household purchasing power, worsen poverty and food insecurity while weakening the inclusiveness of the current reform programme.
He maintained that sustained moderation in food prices is critical to improving citizens’ welfare and strengthening public confidence in the ongoing economic reforms.
Acknowledging the easing of core inflation as encouraging, he drew attention to the persistence of urban inflation.
At 16.08 per cent, urban inflation exceeded the national headline inflation rate of 15.91 per cent, while month-on-month urban inflation increased from 1.99 per cent to 2.13 per cent.
According to Mr Yusuf, the figures indicated that inflationary pressures remained particularly intense across urban centres.
He attributed the rising urban inflation partly to increasing population displacement from rural communities affected by insecurity, expressing worry that as more households migrate to urban areas, demand for housing, transportation, utilities and other essential services would increase, adding to inflationary pressures and creating additional urbanisation challenges.
Addressing insecurity in farming communities, he said, was important not only for protecting lives and property and boosting agricultural output but also for easing cost pressures in urban centres, adding that the June CPI data reinforced the view that Nigeria’s inflation challenge is predominantly structural rather than monetary.
On the monetary policy outlook, he said the data do not justify further monetary tightening, arguing that headline inflation has largely stabilised.
The CPPE chief expected the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to retain the current monetary policy rate at its next meeting, adding that the priority is for monetary and fiscal authorities to work together to accelerate structural reforms to expand food supply, improve logistics, reduce energy and production costs, lower debt service costs, as well as strengthen domestic value chains.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Additional shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The new equities were added to the company’s existing stocks on Customs Street on Thursday, July 16, 2026, a notice from the bourse confirmed.
Business Post reports the total new ordinary shares of Sterling Holdings listed yesterday were 13,812,239,000 units.
They were from the offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each sold for N7.00 per share, which was oversubscribed by investors.
The financial institution brought the new shares to the stock exchange to increase its total issued and fully paid-up shares to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 52,117,012,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 13,812,239,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc were on Thursday, July 16, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N7.00 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have now increased from 52,117,012,414 to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice read.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has signed a Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, establishing a new framework to coordinate the regulation of virtual assets across government agencies as Nigeria seeks to curb fraud while supporting innovation in the digital economy.
The Executive Order, which takes immediate effect, creates a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to harmonise oversight of cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets, stablecoins, and other digital assets without creating a new regulator.
As part of the new framework, the CBN will establish a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible firms to test virtual asset products, blockchain solutions, and related services under regulatory supervision before they are introduced to the wider market.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
According to the presidency, the Executive Order responds to the growing complexity of virtual assets, which increasingly cut across the traditional boundaries of currencies, securities, commodities, and payment systems.
The fragmented regulatory environment has left gaps that have exposed Nigeria to money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy risks, fraud, and revenue losses.
The government said some unregistered operators have exploited these regulatory gaps to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians, resulting in significant financial losses.
“The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies,” the statement read.
Under the new framework, the Virtual Asset Council will be chaired by the CBN, with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice chairs. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The Council will provide policy direction, improve cooperation among participating agencies, and work with the Attorney General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework for the sector.
The Executive Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the Council’s operational arm. The office will be domiciled at the CBN and will coordinate information sharing, applications, and reporting among the participating agencies through a shared supervisory technology platform.
The presidency stressed that the Executive Order does not create a new regulator or transfer statutory powers from existing agencies, clarifying that instead, each institution will continue to exercise its existing mandate while working within a coordinated framework.
Under the arrangement, registration of virtual asset businesses will depend on the nature of the service being offered.
Activities classified as securities will continue to be regulated by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody, and other services involving non-security virtual assets will fall under the CBN.
Where there is uncertainty over regulatory jurisdiction, the Virtual Asset Council will determine the appropriate supervising agency.
“The sandbox will provide a controlled environment in which eligible operators can test and operate virtual asset products, services, and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision, enabling the participating agencies to assess the implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion, and revenue administration before products reach the wider market,” the statement added.
According to the presidency, the sandbox will enable regulators to evaluate the implications of emerging products for financial stability, monetary sovereignty, consumer protection, financial inclusion, market integrity, and revenue administration.
The central bank is expected to announce further details of the sandbox.
