On Friday, the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) disclosed that about 50 percent of retirees of Nigerian Police have verified and registered their aliveness through a technology-based platform codenamed “I Am Alive” confirmation solution launched last month.
The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, disclosed this during the South-West Stakeholders Forum in Akure. Ondo state capital maintained that the era of bringing out aged pensioners for field verification was over, saying the welfare of pensioners remains sacrosanct to the Directorate
Ejikeme stated that less than two weeks after the launch of the IAAC has recorded great success, noting the technology has been able to reduce the cost and stress of the old field verification method and other challenges identified to be affecting pensioners.
She commended President Muhammadu Buhari led administration support and commitment towards ensuring that all the inherited unfunded liabilities of all defunct/privatised agencies handed over to PTAD in 2017 have been liquidated, noting that only NITEL/MTEL had a balance of 36 months, which the directorate was fully committed to liquidating.
Ejikeme also appreciated the support of the supervisory Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and all its other major stakeholders who have made the modest successes achieved by the directorate possible.
“It is our prayer that the president-elect will be as favourably disposed towards the Defined Benefit Scheme pensioners as President Buhari’s administration has been.
“Our journey from field verifications, and mobile verifications, to putting together a solid database of pensioners, benefit computation, ensuring the regular payment of monthly pensions, and paying long overdue pension arrears to pensioners has been a progressive one filled with creativity, dedication, commitment, persistence and resulting in milestone achievements.
“It is not yet a perfect situation, albeit PTAD has made giant strides and is committed to continuing to make giant strides,” she said.
The executive secretary said the “I AM Alive” Confirmation (IAAC) platform inaugurated last month was designed for the use of pensioners in ensuring efficient and effective delivery, disclosing that a six-month grace period would be provided for every department and their pensioners to complete their IAAC Solution so that the system would not crash.
Ejikeme said that PTAD had made giant strides and was committed to continuing to build on such success since its last stakeholders’ forum for the South-West held in Ibadan last year and had carried out a series of activities to make the lives of pensioners better.
Also speaking at the South-West Zonal Council of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) event, Mr Ayo Ikumapayi said the narrative had changed with the introduction of technology and expressed satisfaction with the improvement so far.
Ikumapayi said PTAD had sent the template at the national level for states to emulate, and the directorate was now serving the interest of pensioners and not the other way around.
Also, a pensioner, Mrs Idiat Ogunbiyi, appreciated PTAD for the introduction of
The “I AM Alive” Confirmation solution would reduce the stress for physical verification that was more stressful, despite making it conducive.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
