OMOWA: Hello, my name is Omowa from Igarra, Akoko, Edo LGA. Edo State. I have been receiving my monthly pension after verification in 2019, in Benin City by PTAD.
Suddenly, they started underpaying me from October by N27,N27, 262.91. Please, help resolve the issue. Thanks – Omowa Obende
OZEGBE: I am Ozegbe. I did my last ‘i am alive’ confirmation on August 20, 2024, making it thrice. But, surprisingly, nothing was credited into my account last month.
OYELAKIN: My name is Oyelakin. I retired on July 31, 2002. My date of first appointment was December1970. My federal share of pension started from December 2, 1970 and ended on March 31, 1976, spanning five years and five months.
I was placed on payroll in September 2010, leaving my pension arrears of August 2002 to August 2010 unpaid. I made several attempts to get the arrears paid but all to no avail; I even sent my bank statements to authenticate my claim. Kindly help me. Thanks for your concern in this regard.
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ELLIS: Good day, my name is Ellis and my brother Kelvin. We have not been paid since our verification in 2015 by PTAD in Lagos. We are next of kins to police officer Francis. We have not been paid since we were verified in 2015. I have not been told why the delay. When I called, they said they were processing it.
AGBABIAKA: Good day, my name is Agbabiaka. I did my “I Am Alive Confirm Solution”, since May 1, 2023 and I have received my gratuity. It has been a journey of service, dedication and devotion. Why should your institution delay my pension? Please pay my pension.
ADUEMA: Good day, I am Aduema. My mum has a complaint.
Since she retired, she has not been paid her gratuity. But she has been receiving her pension.
Her set of retirees have been paid. She has health issues and cannot move around.
MRS ADEBOWALE: Good day sir, kindly let me know when the verification of the retired primary school teacher will start.
AYODELE: Hello, my complaint is about underpayment of monthly pensions. I wish to put up a reminder that I am yet to get any acknowledgement nor response regarding my complaints to your organization about three weeks ago on the above subject matter. This is after promises by your receptionists to deliver my complaints to the appropriate authority for further necessary actions.
In October last year, I was surprised to notice a huge deduction of N48,861.19 from my monthly pension of N154,015.36, for an excuse tagged overpayment of pension and which was not earlier communicated to me. From my concise and articulate computations of the deductions yanked, I believe that it was wrong to have carried out such deductions.
By the way, I started working in 1970 and retired from service on August 1, 2005 from Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research, Kaduna (NITR), a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, as a Chief Technical Officer Laboratory Instruments, on HATISS 13, Step 9.
As at the time of retirement, my pension was N92,170.75. However, two years later, August, 2007, there was a 15 per cent pension increment that jerked my pension up to N105,996.36. Three years later, which was August, 2010, there was another 33 per cent increment of N34,978.80 that leveraged my pension to N140,975.16. And in April, 2019, there was a consequential pension adjustment of 0.0925 per cent or N13,040.20, which finally brought my current pension to N154,015.36.
But, surprisingly, from October, 2023, I observed with surprise that, a huge chunk of N48,861.19 monthly deductions were made till date from my pensions, with the excuse that, there were some overpayments made all along, which in actual fact is not true from the in depth analysis I have proffered.The pension refund I expect from you as of April 2024 is N342,028.33, which I am believing would be paid this month. These shortfalls have been causing me a whole lot of financial setbacks. I am equally aware that a review committee was set up towards the end of last year by the Executive Secretary, PTAD to tidy these grievances which are not limited to me or my parastatal alone but to several others. Times are pretty hard for even workers not to talk of vulnerable pensioners whose pays are nothing to write home about. At this juncture, I am imploring you to use your good offices to write this wrong, by reversing the status quo and refunds made back as quickly as possible. Thanks and God bless.
THE NATION: The newspaper will intervene by sending your complaint to PTAD. Therefore, Omowa, Ozegbe, Oyelakin, ELLIS, Agbabiaka, Aduema, Mrs Adebowale, Ayodele should watch out for the pension page on Wednesdays for response from PTAD and subsequently every Wednesday for pension news.
