The Nation Newspaper

Tag: pension

  • ‘Pension fund key for infrastructure financing’

    The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has called for meaningful private capital fund to implement plans that will kick-start rapid infrastructure development in the country.

    The cocmmission’s Acting Director-General,  Chidi Izuwah, who made the call at the 2017 Institute of Directors (IoD) Fellows Investiture ceremony, said piecemeal funding of projects would not yield the desired infrastructure transformation for the country.

    Speaking on the theme: “Infrastructure for National Development and Economic Prosperity”, Izuwah said provision of adequate infrastructure such as power, roads, trains, hospitals, schools and others need meaningful investment, which can only be brought about with meaningful private capital fund.

    Izuwah mentioned some of the successful Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the country to include the concession of the Nigerian Ports, Murtala Mohammed Airport and Garki Hospital, Abuja.

    “Nigeria’s huge infrastructure deficit is an opportunity to partner on a win-win basis with the private sector in virtually all economic and social infrastructure space,” he added.

    According to Izuwah new regulatory framework is now in place to foster seamless private involvement, security of investment, affordability, public interest and investors’ protection under the Federal Government’ Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

    He hinted that the commission was looking at improvement on infrastructure financing through funds, which according to him, is a good private capital fund that should be invested in infrastructure for better turn over.

    He explained: “First, it is important that we need to put forward bankable projects because the private sector is interested in bankable projects. Bankability requires that if the private sector invests, there must be returns on investment. We are looking for the right mechanisms for these projects, and provide the right frame work that can attract investors.”

  • Lagos workers acquire skills for pension administration

    Lagos workers acquire skills for pension administration

    Governments and employers, who fail to accept the welfare of the people as the ultimate law, is at the risk of ruining its stewardships and the trust of the citizens in governance, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said.

    He added that employers, who deny this run the undeniable risk of ruining their enterprise, the trust and the devotion of their employees.

    The governor made this statements at the opening session of a workshop tagged: “Vital Interpersonal Skills for Pension Administrators”, organised by the Civil Service Pensions Office (CSPO) of the Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions in Lagos.

    Ambode, who was represented by Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson, said Lagos State government is one of the most notable governments that believe in this ideal, adding that the unrivalled dedication of the state to the welfare of its workforce both during and after service cannot be overemphasised.

    The commissioner said Governor Ambode mandated his ministry to embark on a continuous training of members of staff of the ministry in order to ensure the delivery of top quality service to officers of the civil service.

    The training, he said, was dedicated to the need to inculcate and sharpen the vital interpersonal skills that officers of the Civil Service Pensions Office require to properly serve pensioners and retirees of the state civil service.

    He said: “In addition to fulfilling my duties charged with the responsibility for ensuring the adequate exposure of the civil service to knowledge on an on going basis, the activities that have been carried out signify and underscore the Governor’s commitment to all matters relating to the welfare of staff, retirees, and pensioners in Lagos State.

    “In aiming to call attention to, and aid the development of, the vital interpersonal skills that are vital for pension administrators, our training will focus on the skills that are not learnt in schools, but are important though, rarely visible. These are the skills that are less tangible, harder to quantify, challenging to teach and, sometimes, difficult to describe. They include attributes such as etiquette, getting along with others, listening and engaging in small talk. Without doubt, these skills are related to the concept of ‘employability’, but they are also related to the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency.”

    He continued:“Clearly, possessing the right attitude to work is a soft skill that is not taught in the universities and other formal schools. This is, therefore, an attempt to help officers of the Civil Service Pensions Office develop the skills that are necessary for success. The training will also fully assist the participating officers to appreciate and acquire the benefits that skills training brings to bear on the attainment of the strategic objectives of the government and the effectiveness of the institutions of the civil service. It will also help pension administrators in the CSPO benefit from having officers, who are able to make critical observations.”

  • Home care for Abia senior citizens

    Home care for Abia senior citizens

    There is a programme in Abia State under which the health of elderly citizens will be monitored at home to save the ordeal of moving around over long distances, Sunny Nwankwo reports

    When they go for pension verification, they are always a pitiable sight.  Some simply cannot move a limb, and cannot report for the exercise. Some who do report are carried by their children or other relatives. Some others are aided by walking sticks. There are also reports of collapses and even deaths on the queues.

    But in Abia State something refreshing is happening. The government has flagged off a programme where senior citizens are catered for right at their homes. Their blood pressures and blood sugar, for instance, are monitored at home. Those who require medications have them delivered to them.

    At the Michael Okpara auditorium in Umuahia, the state capital, venue of the flag-off, the gathering of senior citizens was a happy one.

    While many of them walked into the arena by themselves, others were aided by their loved ones to come and witness for the first time in the state, the flagging off of a home healthcare initiative for the elderly by the state government.

    Some of them said they were happy about the initiative coming from government.

    They also called on the state government to ensure that the project is replicated in all the 17 local government areas of the state.

    Speaking while launching the Free Home Health Care Initiative for the Senior Citizens, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu directed the chairmen of the 17 Local Government Area of the state to key into the initiative by providing security and logistics for the health workers that would be deployed to work in their areas.

    Ikpeazu who described health as an important enabler to the development of the state, appealing for support from volunteers and well-meaning Abians towards the success of the project.

    Minister of Health, represented by the CMD, FMC, Umuahia, Dr. Abali Chukwu appreciated Governor Ikpeazu for introducing such a rare project for the elderly.

    He advised that the programme should be sustained and assured that the Federal Government would key into the project.

    The administrator of the programme, Chief Emenike Osondu said by accepting the idea of establishing the programme,  Ikpeazu has written his name in gold.

    He said that the governor has spent over 200 million naira in the project and thanked him for his interest in elongating the lives of the elderly in the State. Chief Osondu informed that the programme would also create employment opportunities to the youths in the State.

    Also speaking, one of the staff of the scheme, Miss Nkeiru Esomonu mentioned the areas the free health care services would cover to include:

    .Blood pressure, pulse and respiratory status assessment.

    .Monitoring of nutrition and hydration status.

    .Monitoring response and teaching of medication.

    .Administering insulin, wound and ostomy care, catheter care, obtaining specimens, such as blood for lab testing.

    .Visiting the elderly who have diabetes, cancer, heart disease Alzheimer, hypertension, arthritis, fractures, stroke among others.

    She thanked Governor Ikpeazu for sponsoring the programme, promising they will do their best to ensure the success of the programme.

  • Ex-Nitel/Mtel workers to govt: pay 20 years pension buy-out

    Former workers of Nigerian Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) and its subsidiary, Mobile Telecommunication Limited (Mtel), have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) and the office of the Accountant General to pay the balance of 20 years pension buy-out and other entitlements owed them.

    Under the auspices of the Association of Former Telecoms Employees of Nigeria (ATEN), they said the payment of severance entitlements to staff members was supposed to be regulated and governed by extant rules and regulations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), but the BPE relied on the executive fiat of the Obasanjo administration to pay only five years pension buy-out instead of the 25 years buy-out award by the ILO.

    They said the delay in payment as awarded by the liquidation court has forced ATEN to approach the ECOWAS Court of Justice in suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/32/17 for an order of mandamus against the Federal Government and its concerned agencies.

    Speaking on behalf of the workers, ATEN President, Pastor Oluti Gabriel, said: “When the liquidation court was constituted and. inaugurated in 2013, the Incorporated Trustees of Association of Former Telecoms Employees of Nigeria (ATEN) entered the court through the legal representation and secured judgment as Secured/Preferential creditors.

    “The resultant claim for the affected 17,639 former workers totalling N290 billion (Balance of 20 years pension buy-out, 10 per cent entitlement of the sales of non-core assets, insurance) having long been submitted/re-submitted to the government since 2014 for payments.”

    Oluti further disclosed that the parole arrangements by the Minister of Finance through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD),  an arrangement that was erroneously ventilated by the acclaimed existence of pensioners prior to liquidation, to place the former workers of Nitel/Mtel on life pension is totally unacceptable to ATEN as it completely negates and violates the liquidation court judgment, which awarded 25 years pension buy-out, as severance payments to all of them both pensioners and disengaged.

  • Maina: EFCC finds £6m pension cash in UK bank

    Maina: EFCC finds £6m pension cash in UK bank

    Detectives have traced about £6m pension funds to a  United Kingdom bank  account  being managed by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation(OHCSF), The Nation learnt yesterday.

    The cash is being suspected to have been tampered with by some government officials.

    Two former Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation(Engr. E. Okeke and Prof. O. A. Afolabi) reportedly did their best to protect the funds from being tampered with.

    Also yesterday, it was learnt that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) had seized more houses believed to be owned by the embattled ex- chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms Task Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina. He is one of the signatories to the UK bank account.

    Besides, a former EFCC operative has been quoted as saying that he was prepared to speak up on how a minister contacted him to protect Maina.

    But the operative said he would do so on oath if President Muhammadu Buhari raises a Judicial Commission of Enquiry into the mismanagement of pension funds.

    At least N2b is said to have been misappropriated. There are other funds, which are believed to have been stolen.

    A former chairman of EFCC allegedly collected funds for a foreign trip from Maina. But a fact-sheet has debunked the claim.

    The purported N5,476,000 estacodes remitted to the former EFCC chairman  was actually paid into an account in a first generation bank, according to sources close to the investigation of the multibillion naira pension scandal.

    The EFCC has continued its manhunt for Maina. It has located more of his assets.

    A source said: “Our detectives have linked a large farm in Keffi to Maina and we are going to invoke Interim Assets forfeiture Clause in the EFCC (Establishment) Act.

    “We have also sealed off two of the suspect’s houses at No. A5 B. Close and No. 9A  in Kado Estate in Abuja. We have located some houses in Maiduguri too.

    “So far, we have taken possession of the houses in Abuja and Kaduna.”

    There  was a twist yesterday following the release of a fact-sheet, which states that no former EFCC chairman collected N5,476,000 for overseas trips from Maina.

    The document said: “It is hereby stated categorically that the former EFCC chairman never received any payment whatsoever in respect of any trip in OHCSF/Police Pensions and neither embark on such trips.

    “That Estacode payments to the tune of N5,476,000 purportedly made for the Executive Chairman  was discovered to have been paid into the First Bank acct. No. 4033010067733 belonging to one Christian Madubuike who is an account clerk with Police Pension office (PPO).

    “The money was subsequently withdrawn from his account and handed over to Mr. John Yusuf  (AD Accounts PPO). However John Yusuf admitted receiving the monies but claimed that he remitted same to Abdulrasheed Maina.”

    Meanwhile, the EFCC traced about £6m pension funds to the UK  and uncovered 66 pension accounts in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation(OHCSF).

    There was suspicion that the £6m might have been tampered with by some government officials, who are now pension suspects.

    The top source added: “The EFCC has done enough in unraveling pension fraud syndicate in OHCSF, Presidential Pension Reform Task Committee, Police Pension funds and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) check-off dues among others.

    The source said: “It is certainly a huge racket by civil servants some of who are still in the system. For instance, our team uncovered  £6m pension funds in an account in the UK. The money was  for the payment of the pensions of some British colonial officers who served in Nigeria.

    A report on the said account in the UK said: “In respect of the Federal Government 6million pounds sterling investment in the U.K with Crown agents, it is worth noting that the information was discovered as a result of a search executed in the residence of Dr. Shuaibu  Sani Teidi during the course of our investigation.

    “Dr. Shuaibu Sani Teidi failed to disclose the account during his handing over when he was leaving the Head of Service. Mr. Charles Bornant was invited and he confirmed that Dr. Shaibu did not disclose nor include the account in his handing over. Investigation into the account is still ongoing based on relevant information at our disposal.

    “During the course of investigating fraud in the Pension office of the Head of Civil service of the Federation (OHCSF), a search warrant was executed in the residence of Dr. Shaibu Sani Teidi (former director Pension Accounts) where a laptop was recovered. From the analysis of the computer laptop, a document captioned “Report of the visit to Crown Agents Investment United kingdom” was discovered. The document reveals the nature of the investment made by the OHCSF with Crown Agents Investment, UK (copy attached).

    “The Investment Account was brought to the  attention of the OHCSF via a letter with reference No. CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/EGFED/PEN/VOL.1/375 dated 18th February, 2011, while requesting for the following information:

    1. List of Pensioners in Diaspora and their payment point(s)
    2. Records of remittances of funds to all payments point

    iii. Details investment of pension funds with Crown Agents Financial Services

    “On receipt of our letter the OHCSF made further enquiries and responded to us via a letter dated 22nd February, 2011.

    “The following facts emerge from our Investigation.

    1. a) That the OHCSF maintained an overseas investment account with Crown Agent Investment Management United Kingdom titled “Nigeria Federal Civil Service Pension Fund”;
    2. b) That the current Management agreement was drawn on the 23rd of May, 1990, attempt was made to review it between 20th to 22nd January 2009;
    3. c) That the Crown agents have a representative in Nigeria;
    4. d) That the market value of the Fund as at 31/03/2011 was GBP 6,275,176.80;
    5. e) That Engr. E.O Okeke (Head of Service)   and Dr. S.T Shuaibu (Director Pension Accounts) were the signatories to the account between 30th July, 2007 and 6th July, 2011.
    6. f)  That Prof. O.A Afolabi (Head of Service) and Abdulrasheed Maina (Head Pension Task Team) became signatories of the account on 6th July,2011 after our discovery;
    7. g)  That the current signatories to the account were only updated in July 2011, several years after Engr. E.O Okeke retired from Service and Dr. S.T Shuaibu redeployed from OHCSF. Dr. Shuaibu failed  to properly hand over to his predecessor;
    8. h)  That the former Head of service Prof. O.A. Afolabi instructed that the total sum of GBP36,717.68 should be remitted to the Nigerian High Commission office in London for the payment of the outstanding and subsequent pension due to the expatriate (colonial service) pensioners.

    ”Our investigation revealed that the NUP are entitled to 1% only of the total monthly pension as Union Dues, which is being paid by the OHCSF on monthly basis. In view of the above, the OHCSF confirmed that the total amount entitled to NUP between 23rd of April, 2008 and 10th March, 2011 is N780,000,000.00. However, it was discovered that the Union connived with Dr. Sani Shaibu to inflate the figures by N1.5billion.

    “Hence, they were paid the total sum of N2,290,593,322.35 (N2.3billion) from the OHCSF within the period. The President and Secretary of the NUP, Alh Ali Abatcha, and Eleder Actor Zal confessed that they returned the inflated amount to Dr. Shuaibu. The case has been charged to court.”

     

  • Pension for ex-Biafran police officers

    SIR: The commencement of payment of pension benefits by Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to Nigeria Police officers who fought on the side of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War from 1966-1970 is a commendable initiative by the present administration.

    At the end of the Civil War in 1970, officers of the Nigeria Police, military and paramilitary who fought on the side of Biafra were dismissed from service. This was contrary to the spirit of no victor, no vanquished and reconciliation espoused by the then General Yakubu Gowon administration.

    Since their unfortunate dismissal from service, the affected officers and their families have had to live with the unpleasant agony of being denied their benefits. The various administrations in the country, both military and civilian, were unable to resolve this intractable problem which had remained a sad chapter of the Biafra saga.

    However, their hope was restored in 2000 when President Olusegun Obasanjo granted them presidential amnesty, which commuted their dismissal to retirement. But the process of getting their pension benefits had been quite tortuous and frustrating.

    For 17 years, these aged and frail former police officers had to undergo series of verification exercises conducted by the now defunct Police Pension Office, which not only lacked the capacity but unnecessarily over-bureaucratic in handling pension matters.

    What makes their matter very interesting and unique is that 47 years after the civil war ended and 17 years after the amnesty was granted, they now have every reason to celebrate. This is because the Pension Trust Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has embarked on payment. The exercise which was flagged off in Enugu on Friday, October 20, involved a total of 162 officers who are still living and 57 next-of-kin of their dead colleagues who were paid their pension benefits. Though this was coming 47 years after the civil war, it was better than never.

    One must acknowledge the magnanimity of President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the payment to the ex-Biafra Police officers. This is a clear demonstration that the president has a listening ear and also willing to accommodate the interest of all Nigerians irrespective of tribal or ethnic background.

    Equally deserving commendation is the Executive Secretary of PTAD, Barrister Sharon Ikeazor, for the prompt and efficient resolution of the pension palaver. The executive secretary, who is barely one year in office, has shown that she is capable of providing the required leadership that will redefine pension administration is Nigeria.

    To a large extent, those who are clamouring for restructuring or crying of marginalization are doing so because they feel that the country has not given them a sense of belonging. But the commitment of PTAD and the Buhari administration in the payment of pension benefits to ex-Biafran police officers and those who fought on the side of Biafra in the ill-fated 30 months civil war would certainly go a long way to build bonds of unity and accelerate genuine reconciliation among the people.

     

    • Ogechukwu Ajuzie,

    Abuja.

  • PENGASSAN rejects plan to tax pension, terminal benefits

    PENGASSAN rejects plan to tax pension, terminal benefits

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has rejected the plan by governments at the federal and state levels to tax pensions, gratuities and terminal benefits of workers.

    The senior staff trade union vowed to resist the implementation of the plan, which it claimed was to further impoverish workers.

    In a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, PENGASSAN condemned the unilateral decision by the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS) and state Internal Revenue Services to act outside the provisions of the Federal Tax Laws, thereby infringing on the rights of workers.

    PENGASSAN, in the communique signed by its President, Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson, and the General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa, condemned the plan by governments, especially the Lagos State Government and its agent, the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), to tax workers’ gratuities and terminal benefits.

    “The NEC-in-Session calls on all workers, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and other labour unions to reject and resist the planned taxation of pensions, gratuities and terminal benefits.

    “The NEC-in-Session notes that the planned taxation will further deplete workers’ final entitlements and increase poverty in the country. This can also shorten the life span of workers in the country,” the communiqué said.

    The oil workers association also condemned the actions of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) and some state Boards of Internal Revenue for illegally harassing employers from processing additional pension and life insurance tax reliefs by workers as enshrined in the law.

    “The NEC-in-Session therefore, states that the law on Personal Income Tax can only be amended by an Act of the National Assembly or clarification via interpretation by the Judiciary, and it would resist the self-help approach being adopted by the tax bodies,” it stated.

  • ‘Kogi N4bn pension fund diverted to private pockets’

    ‘Kogi N4bn pension fund diverted to private pockets’

    The Auditor-General of Kogi State and chairman, technical committee, state pension reform, Alhaji Yakubu Okala has revealed that N4 billion belonging to pensioners in the state was diverted into private pockets between 2010 and 2015.

    This he said was perpetrated by few individuals saddled with the responsibility of handling the pension funds.
    Okala who made this known on Thursday in Lokoja during a stakeholders meeting heralding the new contributory pension scheme by the state government said that all those that were involved in the pension fraud will be apprehended and brought to justice.

    According to him, embezzlement of the funds in the state has thrown pensioners into a piteous condition to the point that many of them were ashamed of being identified as retired civil servants.

    He added: “Pensioners at the local government level are worst hit by the fraudulent act. Investigation on the councils’ pension is on-going and we must see it to the end.

    “Government has tried its best in releasing money for the payment of pension in the state, but the handlers have failed woefully.”

    He lamented that in 2007, a pension reform bill was sent to the State House of Assembly, and passed into law, but that the scheme did not commence until after ten years as a result of lack of political will by previous administrations.

    He called on the civil servants at the state and local government levels to key into the new contributory pension scheme in order to better their lives after retirement.

    He commended Governor Yahaya Bello for his courage in actualising the new contributory pension scheme for civil servants in the state.

    The chairperson of the state pension bureau, Hajia Sa’adatu Atima explained that for the success of the new pension scheme, the state government will contribute 10 percent while individual workers will contribute eight percent.

    She described the scheme as safe and laudable, urging workers in the state to key into it.

  • Pension complaints and solutions

    ANONYMOUS: Good day sir|ma. Please as a contract staff who retired with an existing pin from his PFA and currently on pension, can I register with another PFA as a contract staff? God bless PenCom and The Nation for this good work.

    PENCOM: The Pension Reform Act (PRA 2014) emphasises one Retirement Savings Account (RSA) per employee, which means that RSA holders should not register with any other PFA after the first registration.  The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has a first pin rule, which means that contributors with more than one PIN must notify the Commission in writing attaching evidence of multiple registrations with PFAs, so that the subsequent PINs can be flagged off.  An RSA holder carries his/her PIN to his/her new employment. The contributor does not have to change his PIN or register with another PFA.

    ANONYMOUS: Good dayam sir, I am  a staff of PPEB Delta State.  I started contributory pension from inception. I opted for Stanbic Ibtc Pension. However I was told I can’t choose my pen managers myself contrary to the law, that another PFA (name withhold) must manage all Delta workers.  I filled the forms, till date I have nothing to show for it.

    PENCOM: By virtue of the provision of the Pension Reform Act 2014, an employee enjoys the right to open and maintain an RSA in his name with a PFA of his choice. It is illegal for any employer or Labour/Union to impose a particular PFA on employees or members.  However, we will still need more information from you such as your PIN, name of PFA, name of your last employer in order to assist with your enquiry.

    GEOFREY: Good evening sir. I am Geofrey, an ex staff of Oceanic Bank, I opened my RSA is with premium pension, after my disengagement, I went to their office to get 50% of contribution. But among other requirements they asked for my salary pay slip which I cannot get because Oceanic Bank didn’t pay us with  pay slip when I was with them. Please help me as I am yet to get another job since 2010. Thanks.

    PENCOM: You cannot get 50% of your contribution. The PRA 2014 only makes provision for a person to withdraw not more than 25% of the total amount credited to his/her RSA provided his/her have been out of a job for four months and has not secured another employment.  With regards to your pay slip issue, please contact your PFA so that they can assist you with possible alternatives.

    BASAMBO: Good day. My name is Basambo, I have death benefit payment of my late father, Danjuma with  Legacy Pension. Please I need to know why the payment is not being made for two years, after finishing all the neccessary processes.

    PENCOM: Upon the death of an employee, the employer/Next of Kin (NoK) or representative of the deceased shall notify the PFA, who in turn shall inform the ommission with supporting documents. The employer would thereafter process the proceeds of the life insurance policy which shall be credited into the deceased’s RSA. The NoK shall liaise with the PFA and provide necessary documentation for processing of the deceased’s entitlements. The deceased’s consolidated benefits are thereafter paid in bulk to the Executors of his estate or to any person appointed by the Probate Registry as the Administrator of his estate to enable them apply the same in favour of his beneficiaries. However sir, we would require more information from you such as your late father’s PIN, Name of Last Employer, so that we can assist you further.

    MRS EKPE: Good day ma, please I need your help on my late husband’s pension. My problem is on the letter of administration. I have been processing it since December 2014.The lawyer helping me only collects money from me and put me on hold, he doesn’t even take my calls

    PENCOM:: Please madam, try and engage another lawyer to assist you.

  • Buhari approves payment of pension to retired Biafran police officers

    Buhari approves payment of pension to retired Biafran police officers

    Succour has come the way of police officers who served in the defunct Biafran Police during the 30 months Civil War as President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the payment of pension to those who were granted presidential pardon in 2000.

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate ( PTAD ) yesterday announced that about 162 of such retired police officers and 57 next of kin of those who died will be paid their pension benefits in the first phase of the payment with effect from tomorrow in Enugu.

    A statement from the PTAD management said after their pardon, a verification exercise was conducted for them by the defunct Police Pension office and recently by PTAD and the Police Service Commission.

    The statement reads: “The general public would recall that Nigeria witnessed an ugly Civil War between July, 1967 and January, 1970 and as a result of that unfortunate period in our history, some members of the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police and paramilitary officers who took part with the secessionist were dismissed from the service.

    “The dismissal of those officers was commuted to retirement in the year 2000 through a Presidential Amnesty granted on May 29, 2000 by the Administration of the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

    “A verification exercise was conducted for the pardoned officers by the defunct Police Pension Office and recently PTAD on one hand and the Police Service Commission on the other.

    “Despite the presidential pardon and verification of these officers, many of them remained unpaid years after the pardon.  However, the present administration under the able leadership of President, Muhammadu Buhari has graciously given approval for the payment of pension entitlements to these officers and their next of kin.”