Banks withhold N700 million ex-airways workers’ pay

• Ex-workers ‘mistakenly’ paid twice

Office of the Nigeria’s Accountant General is at loggerheads with eight major banks in the country as the banks ‘illegally’ withhold the over N700 million the federal government mistakenly paid into the accounts of some former workers of the Nigeria Airways in their banks.

 A top source in the office of the Accountant General lamented to Woleshadarenews the ‘unprofessional attitude of the banks’ has created tension between them, the Accountant General’s office and the former workers of the defunct national carrier.

 The N700 million represented the extra money that was mistakenly paid into the account of some of the former workers who were paid twice by the government.

 After the verification exercise, government approved the payment of the N22 billion being the part payment of the N45 billion they were expected to receive as their final entitlements for working for the defunct airline.

 All efforts made by the Accountant General and the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) representatives of the workers to make the banks refund the money to the Accountant General’s office which was the original source from where the money was paid into the accounts of the affected workers had remained unsuccessful..

 Rather than return the money, the banks have been accused of  illegally trading with the money.

 The eight banks involved are First Bank which is said to be in possession of the lion share of 80 per cent of the money in question. Other banks include Diamond, Fidelity, Polaris, Zenith, Stanbic and Ecobank.

 While the eight banks failed to comply with the agreement to refund the money, others are said to have voluntarily retuned the money mistakenly paid into the accounts.

 The banks that have fully refunded the money are Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Keystone, Standard Chartered, Unity and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

 While the office of the accountant General was said to be unhappy with the banks, the union representatives of the former airline workers have given the banks one week ultimatum which ends this week to return the money to government warning that if they fail to comply that they will picket the banks first thing next week Monday.

 The refusal of the banks to refund the money is said to be slowing down the ongoing payment of the last batch of the former workers their own entitlements.

 President Muhammadu Buhari had set October 15-22  2018 for verification exercise and payment of 50 percent pension for the defunct Nigerian Airways workers.

 Buhari had already approved the sum of N22.68 billion for this purpose and the screening held for five days and the pensioners across the country screened by a committee at three different centers Lagos, Kano and Enugu.

 While the verification in Lagos and Kano lasted between October 15-22 2018, that of Enugu lasted from October 15 to 18 per cent and 50 percent of the total severance package for beneficiaries were paid.

 The payment came 14 years after the airline was liquidated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and some of its assets sold to Arik Air at N950m.

 At the end of the verification exercise, the former Nigeria Airways receive their payments from the Federal Government.

 It would be recalled that while the former workers of the defunct national carrier in Europe and America were almost immediately paid off by the Obasanjo government for fear of running foul of the labour laws of the foreign countries, the former workers in Nigeria and Africa particularly those in Anglophone African countries were left in the cold.

Before the payment late last year, over two thousand of the former workers had suffered to death with many others left in miserable situation.

Respite however came their way when Buhari through the minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika facilitated payment to the ex-workers.

Google+

Wole Shadare