Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has defended ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo against blame for the collapse and liquidation of Nigeria Airways, insisting the airline was already ruined by decades of mismanagement long before Obasanjo returned to power in 1999.
Responding on X to Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo, Fani-Kayode said the problems that destroyed the national carrier were not of Obasanjo’s making.
He noted that when Obasanjo left office as military Head of State in 1979, Nigeria Airways had 32 functional aircraft, skilled pilots and crew, strong management and an accountable board.
By the time Obasanjo returned as civilian president in 1999, only one non-functional plane remained and most of the company’s assets had disappeared.
Fani-Kayode attributed the airline’s downfall to corruption, mismanagement, heavy debts and operational failures between 1979 and 1999.
He said the 2004 liquidation followed years of chronic insolvency and failed rescue efforts, including privatisation advice from the International Finance Corporation that was later withdrawn.
In his view, Obasanjo had little choice but to end further public bailouts because “there was nothing left to save.”
The comments came after Keyamo accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of hypocrisy.
Keyamo said the Obasanjo administration in which Atiku served liquidated Nigeria Airways in September 2004, leaving thousands of workers jobless and their pensions and gratuities unpaid for years.
He added that some former staff died while waiting for their benefits, and that President Bola Tinubu had recently approved and released N36 billion to settle the outstanding entitlements.
Fani-Kayode recalled that as Aviation Minister in 2006 he presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council seeking payment of the pensions, following recommendations from a committee chaired by then Head of Service Yayale Ahmed.
The proposal was rejected after some cabinet members opposed it, arguing that former boards and managers had helped destroy the airline. He said he and his supporters were in the minority.
He noted that later administrations under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari made partial payments, and he welcomed the Tinubu government’s move to clear the remaining obligations under Keyamo’s leadership.
On Atiku’s stance during the original council debate, Fani-Kayode said he knew which side the former vice-president took but would not disclose it publicly, stressing that the decision was a collective one for which the entire government remained responsible.
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