The Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD) has held a Stakeholders’ Forum for Southwest pensioners in Lagos. Omobola Tolu-Kusimo reports
Pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) have one major request: They want to be placed first in budgetary allocation.
They have, therefore, urged that this request be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Assembly, Minister of Finance, National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD).
They spoke at the just-concluded conference tagged ‘PTAD’s 2018 Stakeholders’ Forum’ held in Lagos. It was attended by pensioners and DBS stakeholders from the Southwest.
Before the establishment of PTAD in 2013, pension schemes had problems. The Public Service operated an unfunded DBS and the payment of retirement benefits were budgeted for yearly. The allocation for pension was often one of the most vulnerable items in budget implementation in the light of resource constraints. In many cases. even where budgetary provisions were made, inadequate and untimely release of funds resulted in delays and accumulation of arrears of payment of pension rights. It was obvious, therefore, that the DBS could not be sustained.
In the private sector, many employees were not covered by the pension schemes put in place by their employers and many of these schemes were not funded. Where the schemes were funded, they were mismanaged.
This scenario necessitated a re-think of pension administration by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. It initiated a reform. The outcome was the enactment into law of the Pension Reform Act 2004, which led to the establishment of PTAD in 2013.
Saddled with ensuring that about 40,000 pensioners under the DBS received their pension, PTAD reassured pensioners and Next-of-Kin that their pension entitlements would be paid.
PTAD Executive Director, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, said pensioners should be treated with dignity and honour having served the country.
She stated that putting pensioners first is, indeed, putting the country first.
She pledged to transform PTAD into a strong institution that can stand for these ideals.
She said: “I share in President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision that the level of dignity and honour with which we treat hundreds of thousands of men and women, who had given and sacrificed their lifetimes to the service of this great country, will impact directly on how present and future generations of government officials comport themselves in the course of public service.
“I cannot think of a better tool for uprooting the menace of corruption from our great society than through a guaranteed life of dignity in the aftermath of public service through an effective and efficient pension system. I dare say that this subtle preventive measure is much more effective than the traditional option of deterrence.”
Giving an update of the Directorate’s achievements, she said despite the challenges in the global economy over the past years, the Directorate, with the support of the Federal Government, has recorded some achievements in the sector.
“Principal among these achievements is ensuring the prompt payment of monthly pension to all genuine pensioners. Consequently, the dateline of 15th day of every month for the completion of all departmental payrolls will remain sacrosanct. Our ultimate goal in this regard is to ensure that payment of pensions is prioritised over the payment of salaries, not only by the Federal Government, but by all tiers of government. Other breakthrough successes recorded over the period under review are enrolment of newly verified pensioners into PTAD payroll; payment of arrears to pensioners
“Following the completion of the civil service verification, all eligible pensioners under that category have been enrolled and the payment of monthly pension to them has since commenced. This exercise has brought in over 19,000 new pensioners, who had hitherto been denied their constitutional rights to pension, into the DBS; payment of pension and gratuity arrears to over 15,000 newly enrolled civil service pensioners; and partnerships to tackle fraud.
“The Directorate has also successfully verified, computed and put on payroll nearly 5000 pensioners of defunct/privatized agencies such as Delta Steel Company (DSC), Aladja, Federal Housing Authority of Nigeria (FHA), Nigeria Reinsurance, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Civilians. Pensioners of NICON insurance will commence receiving monthly pension in September 2018, while work on the enrolment of NITEL pensioners has reached advanced stages. This singular achievement has lifted many families out of miseries that lasted for up to 13 years in some instances. The verification of other agencies under same category will be done alongside that of other parastatals beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018.’
She continued: “Payment of additional 33 per cent arrears to pensioners of Police, Civil Service and Parastatals Pension Departments. With the last round of payments, the 33 per cent liabilities for police pensioners have now been fully settled, joining customs, immigration and prisons pension department’s pensioners in this category. The directorate has also applied for the release of funds set aside in the 2019 budget to settle the remaining arrears of civil service and parastatals pensioners.
“To combat fraud and protect its pensioners from extortionists, PTAD has adopted both proactive and reactive measures. The Directorate has intensified its pensioner enlightenment campaigns through the traditional media. In the coming days and months, we also seek to take these operations to places of worship as well as community centers to ensure wider coverage. We have also strengthened our partnerships with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders, such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and the Department of State Security (DSS) to eradicate pension fraud in Nigeria.”
Speaking on the Directorate’s initiatives, she said in line with its vision of being a model for the delivery of innovative and sustainable pension services, PTAD has taken the initiative to strengthen the management of pensions under the DBS in the major areas.
They include, according to her, automation of the pension payment processes and the use of Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) under which pensioners receive their payments directly into their bank accounts from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) without any interface with the Directorate, stressing that PTAD does not operate any commercial bank accounts.
Others are digitisation of pensioners’ data and records to maintain a comprehensive database of pensioners under DBS, she added.
She further stated that prompt resolution of complaints and verification under conducive environment, with the provision of food, water and medical facilities at all centres, would continue to be the driving force in their pensioner relations.
“Similarly, we will continue to attend to the sick and infirm through our mobile verification until when we eliminate the physical verification process and replace it with the “I am Alive” scheme. We will integrate the verification and computation processes in the coming months to eliminate the lag between the conduct of the verification exercise and the computation process.’’
Mrs Ikeazor disclosed that some of the major drawbacks being encountered by PTAD were lack of adequate resources to settle the legacy liabilities it inherited, and to implement some of its major initiatives most of which are capital intensive.
On the recurring problem of presentation of “Enrolment of Orders” granted by customary courts in lieu of Letters of Administration issued by Probates of High Courts by Next-of-Kin (NoK) for processing of death benefits, she said under Extant Laws, these documents are not substitutes.
Enrolment Orders, and indeed similar documents issued by customary courts, and such other courts of coordinate jurisdictions, are not acceptable by the Directorate for the payment of death benefits to NoKs. Unfortunately, this practice is prevalent and has caused unnecessary delays in computing and payment of benefits to NoKs, she noted.
Pensioners of the defunct Nigeria Airways appealed to the Directorate to pay their N45 billion final severance packages to the almost 6,000 former workers of the Airways.
The pensioners’ unions, the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), said they would not wait until the entire workers of the former national carriers died before ensuring that they were paid.
The unions said they had earlier written a petition signed by Ocheme Aba for NAAPE, Frances Akinjole, ATSSSAN and Alayinka Abioye for NUATE to the Minister of State for Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika.
The Unions accused the minister of being insensitive to their plight despite the growing list of the avoidable deaths and other afflictions.
They said they could no longer wait for all the ex-staff members of the Nigeria Airways to die before entitlements were paid, and may force the Federal Government to come to terms with the reality of the situation and be rid of her gross insensitivity.
Nigeria Union of Pensioners President, Abel Afolayan insisted that pensioners must be paid their entitlements.
A representative of NICON Insurance Corporation pensioners, Ebenezer Ajao, said they had not been placed on payroll.
But a pensioner from steel sector commended PTAD for adding them to payroll.
He said they were delighted to learn that police pensioners had received their 33 per cent arrears, adding that they would like to know when the Directorate would pay their three-year arrears.
A pensioner of the defunct Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN) Oladunjoye Gabriel queried the Directorate on why it did not pay their monthly pensions that were omitted when their money was stopped and restored.
He stated that many verified pensioners were yet to be paid.
Other pensioners who seek clarifications on their issues include Nigerian National Shipping Line, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and its mobile subsidiary, MTEL, among others.
Responding, Mrs Ikeazor said: “On the issue of verifying PHCN pensioners, we know we inherited the payroll, but we need to verify them. This way we can establish the genuine pensioners. Meanwhile, our priority are those who are not on payroll like NICON, Delta Steel, and Nigeria Re pensioners. We need to get them on payroll before we start verifying those who are already on payroll. Our plan is to verify PHCN pensioners and others in these categories when we finish with defunct privatised agencies.
“We are also committed to solving all pension issues. We are working almost 24 hours to ensure that every pensioner under the DBS receive their entitlement,” she assured.
Chairman House Committee on Pension and Establishment, Hon. Hassan Shekarau assured the pensioners that he would continue to persuade the National Assembly to ensure that adequate funding was made for PTAD.
He said lawmakers expected the PTAD to pay pensioners as soon as money was made available to it.
He stressed that he and his colleagues would continue to collaborate with all the committees overseeing the agencies and parastatals to regularise pension issues.