The Chairman of the Military Pensions Board (MPB), Navy Commodore Sabiru Lawal, stated in Abuja that the electronic verification of military pensioners would begin before the end of the year.
“Please allow me to quickly update you on our accomplishments in relation to the board’s fundamental mandate. Our distinguished pensioners have received their monthly pensions before the end of each month since my assumption of duty in September last year.
“In the same way, all pensioners whose retirement documents have been received by the board and who retired as of July 2021 have had their gratuities paid. We’ve also made sure that death benefits are paid to NOKs of deceased troops who have been recommended by the services and verified as authentic NOKs by the MPB NOK Committee,” he stated.
“All retirees are currently being paid in accordance with the new pension schedule that has been approved by the federal government,” he said.
In addition, the board has finalized plans to move all military pensioners from manual verification to a more secure and user-friendly electronic verification system. “Hopefully, after gaining consent from the higher authorities, the electronic verification exercise of military pensions will begin before the end of this year, barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, Chief of the Naval Staff, who was the special guest of honour, remarked that the MPB’s proposal to replace the manual system with electronic verification of military pensions was a commendable step.
“It is hoped that electronic verification of military pensions will eliminate the problems that currently exist in the manual system. In particular, it would result in significant financial savings for the federal government by gradually eliminating phantom or deceased pensioners, as well as removing the stress that older individuals face during manual verification exercises,” he explained.
