- We have plans to advance pensioners welfare, says ES
Since its establishment, the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has put in place a reliable database for pensioners, cleaning up the payroll of ineligible pensioners, and ensuring timely and accurate payment of pensions to retirees, the Executive Secretary (ES), Tolulope Odunaiya, has said.
She spoke at the maiden stakeholder’s interactive session in Lagos.
She said the platform was provided in line with commitment to transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness in the administration of Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) pensions.
She said it provides us a platform to strengthen the trust between PTAD and the pension community.
Other achievements
Odunaiya stated that through various initiatives such as the ‘’I Am Alive Confirmation(IAAC)’’ solution, we have reduced the burden of physical verification on our senior citizens and promoted dignity and respect in their interaction with the system. We have also, in the process, saved pensioners the cost and discomfort of commuting to physical verification centres and the Federal Government enormous amounts hitherto used to fund the verification.
“We have also ensured the prompt resolution of complaints, continued expansion of our digital infrastructure that will soon include the self-verification solution that will be extended to Diaspora pensioners and eventually replace aspects of the expensive and rigorous Mobile Verification exercise. We equally improved and expanded our customer service delivery through enhanced communication channels, including the Lagos Zonal Office, which many of you interface with regularly, and the 13 other State offices located across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. We have also fully implemented the 20/28 per cent pension increment of 2024 and have defrayed all the accrued arrears arising therefrom.
”PTAD has also partly paid arrears of the N32,000 pension increment to pensioners of all Departments and Sectors even though this unprecedented second pension increment of 2024 was announced in August, months after the Directorate had already submitted its 2025 budget estimates the previous May. These milestone achievements have been recorded because of the efficiency savings arising from the full implementation of the I Am Alive Confirmation (IAAC) solution.
She added: “Yet, we acknowledge that some challenges remain. There are genuine concerns regarding delayed implementation of monthly payment of the N32,000 pension increment of 2024, the lag in the implementation of the outcome of the review of the Back-End-Computation of some sectors of the Parastatals Pensions Department, and the lack of instant restoration of pensioners to the payroll after they had performed the IAAC.
“We are not shying away from these issues. Rather, we are confronting them head-on through a combination of shrewd financial management and optimisation of pension operations anchored on efficiency savings. Specifically, over the past six months, we have embarked on significant improvement of our IT infrastructure and the administrative and operational structures of the Directorate. These measures are projected to reposition PTAD and make it more responsive and capable of instantly meeting pensioners’ expectations in real-time.
We have also amped up our advocacy campaigns for additional funding to meet the sudden upsurge in the cost of payment of monthly pension.
“The unprecedented double increments generously and graciously approved by Mr. President in 2024 have more than doubled the pension budget of some Departments of PTAD. Despite these challenges, PTAD has fully settled the arrears arising from, and is implementing the 20/28 per cent pension increment that took effect on January 1, 2024. Similarly, after the first 10 months of the effective date of the N32,000 increment, the Directorate is at between 40 per cent and 80 per cent levels of settlement of accrued arrears across the Parastatals, Civil Service, Customs, Immigrations and Prisons, as well as Police Pensions Departments.
This has cost the Directorate over N27.5 billion already. Another N45.1 billion will be required to fully implement the N32,000 increment for the period up to December 2025. And that is factoring in the expected IAAC and efficiency savings of N18.1 billion. We have also started settling the arrears of the 10.66 per cent and 12.95 per cent increments approved for certain specialised agencies of PaPD.
“Although we have applied a pause in the payment of these arrears, we will resume payments as soon as we are able to get certain clarifications on its implementation from the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC).’’
2026 Agenda
The PTAD boss said aside meeting the liabilities last year’s increments, they had also set up an agenda for 2026.
‘’The Directorate will vigorously pursue the approval of the harmonisation of pension to eliminate the gap between pensioners who retired at different times and on different salary structures.
The Directorate has also targeted next year for the expansion of its healthcare coverage to DBS pensioners under its management,’’ she said.
Palliatives
On palliatives, she informed the pensioners that PTAD is not the agency assigned to handle.
“This falls under the purview of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.
“PTAD has forwarded the list of our pensioners and their account details to the Ministry and followed up to see that the payment is made.”
Pensioners as partners
Odunaiya stressed that the session is not just to inform pensioners about their achievements, challenges and bold plans to advance the welfare of pensioners, but to listen and hear their concerns, take feedback, and provide clarifications where necessary.
“We are committed to continuous improvement and to ensuring that the dignity of every pensioner is upheld. Your cooperation, feedback, and support are crucial to PTAD’s success.
“We recognise the importance of engaging you not only as beneficiaries but as partners in this journey. It is only through open dialogue and collaborative effort that we can build a more efficient, fair, and compassionate pension administration system.
“I urge you to look at the Directorate as a reliable and indispensable partner with whom you need to collaborate rather than confront. It is only through a coordinated approach that we can achieve our common objectives of delivering the best pensioner experience that our esteemed pensioners deserve,” she assured.
