According to Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), the use of technology in the payment of pensions has made it virtually impossible for pension funds to be mismanaged or stolen as it once was.
PTAD has continuously worked toward improving the payment of the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) in Nigeria since its creation, according to Dr. Ejikeme, who was speaking in Calabar at the opening of a two-day Stakeholders Forum for pensioners in the South.
Despite the enormous challenges that PTAD was given at its inception, she claimed that years of effort have paid off in the form of pension payments.
Dr. Ejikeme stated that PTAD has completed a number of activities, including paying the four operational departments in the Directorate’s arrears resulting from the consequential adjustment to pensions as a result of the increase in the minimum wage in April 2019, fully liquidating the 126 months’ worth of unpaid liabilities owed to former employees of Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, and fully paying the 219 months’ worth of inherited liabilities to ex-employees of New Nigeria Newspaper Limited and also complete payment of the 100 months of inherited liabilities to ex-workers of NICON Insurance.
She maintained that the 9.7% increment due to former PHCN employees with associated arrears and the portion of arrears payable to NITEL/MTEL pensioners have been paid.
She thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the support he provided to PTAD, which allowed it to fully liquidate the inherited unfunded obligations of all the defunct/privatize agencies that were transferred to it. She emphasized that PTAD has trained pension desk officers from the various institutions and organizations where retirees came from, as well as pension union executives from the six geopolitical zones, so they can use an online solution to help pensioners who are unable to independently complete the “I Am Alive” confirmation.
