Keyamo Accuses Atiku of Hypocrisy Over Liquidation of Nigeria Airways

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of hypocrisy over the liquidation of Nigeria Airways during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Keyamo made the accusation in a post on X while responding to Atiku, arguing that the former Vice-President should account for the decisions taken by the administration in which he served.

Focusing on the aviation sector, Keyamo said Nigeria Airways was liquidated in September 2004 when Atiku was Vice-President, a decision he said left thousands of Nigerians jobless and caused hardship for former workers of the airline.

He also alleged that the former workers were not paid their pensions and gratuities, which he said accumulated to billions of naira.

According to Keyamo, President Bola Tinubu has now approved and released N36 billion to settle outstanding entitlements owed to the former Nigeria Airways workers and bring relief to their families.

“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,” Keyamo said.

The minister said the former workers had started receiving payments and had expressed appreciation to Tinubu, adding that the President was recently honoured with an award by the workers’ union over the intervention.

Keyamo further accused Atiku of selectively taking credit for the achievements of the Obasanjo administration while distancing himself from decisions made during his tenure whenever they became controversial.

He said Atiku could not “disguise” what he described as his political ambition through rhetoric, insisting that Nigerians should be reminded of the former Vice-President’s record in government.