A dispute over who should bear responsibility for the collapse of Nigeria Airways has erupted between Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode, with the two offering sharply different accounts of the airline’s demise and the role of the administration in which former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar served.

Keyamo blamed Atiku for the liquidation of the national carrier in 2004, accusing him of distancing himself from decisions taken under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, while Fani-Kayode argued that decades of mismanagement had pushed the airline towards collapse long before the administration took office.

The exchange comes as the Federal Government continues to settle outstanding entitlements owed to former Nigeria Airways workers, many of whom waited more than two decades for their benefits.

The disagreement followed a video in which Atiku criticised the Tinubu administration over the rising cost of living and insecurity, saying many Nigerian families were struggling to afford basic necessities, including food, healthcare, transport and rent.

“Bola made life expensive. I will work to make life affordable again and restore the security every Nigerian deserves,” Atiku said.

Responding, Keyamo accused the former vice-president of hypocrisy, pointing to the liquidation of Nigeria Airways in 2004 and the prolonged delay in paying the former employees their pensions and gratuities.

According to the minister, the Obasanjo administration, in which Atiku served as vice-president, left thousands of workers without their full entitlements following the airline’s liquidation.

Keyamo said President Bola Tinubu had approved and released ₦36 billion to settle the outstanding obligations, adding that payments to former employees had begun.

“Twenty-two years later, after many of them have died out of frustration, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now clearing the mess you left behind,” he said.

He also accused Atiku of taking credit for the achievements of the Obasanjo administration while distancing himself from controversial decisions taken during the period.


Fani-Kayode, who served as aviation minister from November 2006 to May 2007, challenged Keyamo’s position in a post on X on Thursday, arguing that the airline’s collapse could not be attributed solely to the Obasanjo administration.

He said Nigeria Airways had suffered years of financial distress, operational failures and mismanagement before Obasanjo returned to power in 1999.

Fani-Kayode claimed the airline had 32 functional aircraft when Obasanjo left office as military head of state in 1979, but had only one aircraft remaining by 1999.

He attributed the collapse primarily to chronic insolvency, operational decline and mismanagement between 1979 and 1999, arguing that the Obasanjo administration inherited an airline already in severe distress.

According to him, attempts to revive the carrier failed, leaving liquidation as the eventual outcome.

Fani-Kayode also disputed the suggestion that the Obasanjo administration alone was responsible for the former workers’ unpaid entitlements.

He said he submitted a memorandum to the Federal Executive Council in 2006 seeking approval to pay the outstanding pensions, but the proposal was rejected after some cabinet members opposed the payments on the grounds that former board members and managers had contributed to the airline’s collapse.

He said subsequent administrations, including those of former Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, also made payments to former workers.

Fani-Kayode commended the Tinubu administration for addressing the outstanding benefits but maintained that the workers should have been paid much earlier.

How Nigeria Airways collapsed

Nigeria Airways began operations in 1958 as West African Airways Corporation (Nigeria) Limited before becoming wholly government-owned in 1961.

The airline once operated domestic and international routes, connecting Nigerian cities with destinations across Africa, Europe and North America.

Its fortunes deteriorated over several decades amid mounting debts, poor management, political interference, overstaffing and allegations of corruption.

Its fleet, which stood at 32 aircraft in 1984, had fallen to three by October 2000. By May 2003, the airline reportedly had just one aircraft remaining as financial and operational difficulties deepened.

Efforts to rescue the carrier through restructuring and privatisation failed, and it ceased operations in 2003 before its liquidation was completed in 2004.

The consequences of the collapse have continued to affect former employees, with successive administrations facing pressure to settle their outstanding entitlements.

In September 2026, the Federal Government said it had paid severance benefits to 2,100 former Nigeria Airways workers, while another 600 beneficiaries had been cleared for payment.

The payments, covering nine batches of beneficiaries, amounted to ₦18 billion, according to a report published at the time.

The Ministry of Finance said the exercise followed the approval of Tinubu, with the government undertaking verification and other administrative processes to ensure that eligible former employees received their entitlements.