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The Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, has said the welfare of pensioners remained the directorate’s topmost priority adding that the sum of N8.1 billion had been paid to 25, 950 pensioners following an ongoing revalidation exercise.
She further assured pensioners that the directorate would always ensure that the, “labours of our heroes past shall not be in vain.”
Ejikeme also said that the pension administration under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) was no longer prone to corruption, pointing out that the current federal government policy of Treasury Single Account (TSA) forbade any government agency from keeping account with any commercial bank as well as mandates all them to open and maintain accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to receive statutory allocation or revenue and disburse payments there from as applicable.
She spoke against the backdrop of allegations in the media, that some officers of PTAD paid pension funds allocation into their personal bank accounts to accumulate interest for their personal gain, and that this had cause of delayed monthly pension payment and that the directorate owed three months’ pension increment arrears following the recent increment of pension by President Muhammadu Buhari, among other allegations.
The PTAD boss, further explained in a statement that the implementation of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) for processing of all official governments’ payments and receipts, had also made it impossible for any individual to divert pension fund allocation to his/her personal account, as no one has direct access to pension funds.
She said, all pension transactions are carried out through a seamless online payment system, unlike under the old DBS management system which was fraught with irregularities.
Ejikeme further pointed out that the circular for consequential adjustment to pensions as a result of the 2019 increment to the minimum wage, was received from the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission in May 2021 while the directorate commenced implementation in the same month.
Among other things, she said the directorate had completed payment of the 24 months’ arrears arising from the increment to three out of the four operational departments of the directorate.
The PTAD Executive Secretary further assured all civil service pensioners, that the payment of their outstanding balance of three months’ arrears, which has been delayed simply due to insufficient funds, would be paid soon.
