Executive Secretary Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr Chioma Ejikeme, has said President Bola AhmedTinubu, will make pension payment a first-line charge in Nigeria.
Dr Ejikeme, who disclosed this at a two-day Southeast stakeholders’ engagement forum in Awka, over the weekend, assured that Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate is determined to change the narrative in pension administration, and has trained Pension Desk Officers from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies pensioners retired from, as well as representatives of pension unions on the use of the application; to assist pensioners who are unable to carry out the confirmation on their own.
She noted that no pensioner who is alive should be left out in the ongoing “I Am Alive” confirmation process, which will determine a pensioner’s eligibility to continue to receive pension.
She appealed to state Governors to copy President Tinubu’s policy on pensioners’ welfare.
Launched on twelfth October 2022; with successful pilot phase, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate fully rolled out and staggered the “I Am Alive confirmation process till twenty-eight February 2024 to prevent heavy flow of traffic on the website, and ensure efficient and effective service delivery.
Dr Ejikeme explained that the stakeholders’ engagement forum is organized periodically to meet and interact with pensioners and stakeholders in all the geopolitical zones of the country, keep them updated on its activities, future plans, and most importantly, get their feedback.
As part of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate resolve to ensure that no eligible pensioner is left out, Dr Ejikeme announced that a survey is being carried out by the Directorate onwww.ptad.gov.ng to ascertain the number and locations of pensioners in the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom; to enable the Directorate plan for diaspora verification, warning against patronizing pension fraudsters.
In a goodwill message, a representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ekweozor said Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate is a step forward in guaranteeing security of pension benefits and ensuring timely and uninterrupted disbursement, even as a representative of the Public Complaints Commission, Mrs Sarah Adeniran urged Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate to do more to ensure that all outstanding benefits due to pensioners and their next-of-kin are settle.
The National President of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Comrade Ikechukwu Abumisi, who commended Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate for conducting the “I Am Alive” confirmation in parts of the country, urged government at all levels to ensure that people, especially pensioners are lifted out of poverty through regular payment of entitlements.
On his part, the Anambra State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Dr. Anthony Ugozor, who commended the state government for providing Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate with a befitting office, thereby bringing their services closer to Anambra pensioners, informed the gathering that though some states in the Southeast stopped payment of gratuity to pensioners as far back as 1998, the story is different in Anambra, where pensions are paid as at when due.
A pensioner, Sir. Francis Emeka Onuchukwu, who spoke in an interview with Nigerian Tribune, appealed to President Tinubu, to retain Dr Ejikeme, as the PTAD boss, to enable her continue her good service she is rendering to pensioners across the country.
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