The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PTAD

  • PTAD to restore confidence in pension administration

    PTAD to restore confidence in pension administration

    The Pension Transitional Directorate (PTAD) has said it is working hard to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the management and payment of pension to pensioners under the defunct Direct Benefit Scheme (DBS).

    Its Executive Secretary,  Ms. Sharon Ikeazor, who gave the assurance while inaugurating the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit of the Directorate, said the agency had been strategising on ways to tackle the menace of corruption in the management of pension under the DBS.

    Pensioners, who retired from service before the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme are captured in the DBS.

    Ms. Ikeazor said before the establishment of PTAD, pension administration in Nigeria fell into disrepute amid allegations of misappropriation of funds, maladministration, corruption and fraud, many pensioners complained about the non-payment of, or short-payment of pension and gratuity, removal of names from pension payment vouchers and unpaid pension arrears, among others.

    She said in the absence of strong regulatory oversight, the defund pension offices, the civil service pensions, Police pension, customs, Immigration and Prisons pension  and the Pension Board Trustees of Federal Government parastatals had many cases of misappropriation of funds running into billions of naira, adding  that cases of corruption and general mismanagement became a national embarrassment, with huge financial consequences while the pensioners’ welfare was relegated to the background, even as the government’s pension liability grew steadily due to the disputable fraud in the system.

    Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) Chairman, Ekpo Nta, expressed confidence that with the establishment of the agency, and given its robust mandate, the dark times of pension fund mismanagement would be a thing of the past.

    The ICPC chief, who was represented by the Head of Anti- Corruption Unit of the Commission, Justin Kuatsey,  said: “There have been reported cases of alleged mismanagement and corruption in the handling of pension funds of retirees, a situation which is most unfortunate as it has contributed in no small measure to the daunting challenges. Being faced by our retired senior citizens over the years, it is the prayer of many that with the establishment of this Directorate and given its robust mandate to address the observed challenges, the dark ages of pension fund mismanagement would be a thing of the past,” he stated.

    He said positive results would be attained, especially now that “we shall be leveraging on the strong liaison between the Commission and this Directorate to produce positive results  in serving the people better.”

  • PTAD, EFCC partner against fraudsters

    The presence of some Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials has helped in warding off fraudsters from verification centres of pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Ms. Sharon Ikeazor, has said.

    She made this known during a visit to the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, in Abuja.

    According to her, an integral aspect of pension management was the credibility of the payroll and data base available for benefit computation and analysis.

    She stated that this was why they embarked on the nationwide verification of the pensioners under their jurisdiction.

    She said: “The EFCC has been very supportive and of great assistance during our verification exercises and PTAD is appreciative of this. We are grateful to members of staff of EFCC who accompanied our team and worked with them at the verification centres.

    “Also, the Commission’s assistance and tremendous support is also highly valued in the recovery of pension assets that are currently in the possession of insurance companies and defunct Boards of Trustees (BOT) of concerned Parastatals. We thank you for the progress made so far and look forward to gaining more ground in this area.”

    Ms. Ikeazor further said PTAD has continued to build upon its institutional frameworks, processes and systems needed to run a sensitive operation such as pension administration.

    The verification is continuing towards establishing a credible, authentic and digitised database of pensioners under the DBS, eliminating duplicate payments and ghost pensioners, regularising anomalies such as over payments and under payments and updating the records of the Next Of Kin (NOK)

  • PTAD to verify Lagos civil service pensioners

    PTAD to verify Lagos civil service pensioners

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said the next phase of its verification of civil service pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme will soon commence in Lagos State.

    This is coming on the heels of the state’s promise to provide logistics for the verification of its pensioners  to facilitate the payment of their pension benefits and entitlements.

    Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Theodora Amechi made this known in an interview with The Nation in Lagos.

    According to her, the Directorate recently received a pledge of partnership from the state government on how to make pension payment easy to the pensioners.

    She said the Directorate was delighted at the offer from the state government, adding that it would go long way in making PTAD’s work easier.

    She stressed that the Directorate also believes that pension administration in Nigeria would have registered greater success if all the state governments were willing to support and collaborate with it as the Lagos State government is offering to do.

    She noted that with the support, the Directorate has decided that the next phase of PTAD’s nationwide verification of civil service pensioners will commence in Lagos on a date to be jointly agreed upon.

    Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Civil Service Pensions Office, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Balogun had during a visit to PTAD at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, conveyed the state government’s commitment to provide logistic support to enable PTAD conduct the verification of all pensioners with Federal share in the state.

    Balogun, who presented a nominal roll of state pensioners with federal share to the management of PTAD said conducting the verification exercise will enable PTAD resolve issues of non-payment and short-payment to pensioners.

    She said it would also help in the reconciliation of any outstanding obligation on the part of the Federal Government.

  • Defined Benefits: PTAD reiterates safety of pension fund

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has reiterated the safety of pension fund to retirees of the Defined Benefits Scheme.

    PTAD Head of Communications, Theodora Amaechi, made this known in an interview with The Nation in Abuja. She stated that the recent issue of alleged fraud by its former Director-General, Ms Nellie Mayshack, has nothing to do with pension fund of retirees, noting that the issue surrounding her suspension had to do with operational fund of the directorate.

    She further noted that the country has a lot of pension problem and challenges inherited from the old pension system, adding that the directorate is, however, solving the problems on a daily basis despite numerous challenges encountered.

    She said: “In those days, there were aggrieved pensioners all over the country claiming that the government was not paying them their pensions and the world thought the country has failed in this regard. But in the real sense, they were fake pensioners. We have money to pay verified and genuine pensioners and we are paying them.

    “We don’t have any problem with funding. The suspension of the former DG by the Minister of Finance has no connection with pension funds but with operational funds. It has nothing to do with pensioners.”

  • PTAD arrests two fake pensioners

    Two men, including one pension desk officer of the Nigerian Police Command, Nassarawa State, purporting to be next-of-kin of a pensioner have been caught by officials of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) at their headquarters in Abuja.

    The Directorate had, after establishing that the men are fake next-of-kins, invited the police who arrested them and took them to the Force headquarters, Abuja.

    PTAD Head of Corporate Communications, Mrs Amechi Theodora, told The Nation that the two men came into the Directorate asking that their brother’s pension be paid to them.

    She said the mastermind of the fraud is the civilian who works as a police pension desk officer of Nassarawa Police Command.

    She said: “The police pension desk officer generated fake documents and recruited another man to act as a brother to a deceased pensioner. The recruit came into our office and asked that he be paid his brother’s pension.”

    “These are the kind of people that have made pension payment difficult or to run smoothly in the country. They pretend to be pensioners and next-of-kins just to perpetuate fraud.

    “But PTAD is working hard to identify fake and genuine pensioners and this is why the Directorate was able to stop both men fake men in their tracks. We have also embarked on a nationwide verification which is still ongoing,” she added.

  • PTAD declines to reveal Acting DG’s identity

    The Pension Transitional Directorate Department (PTAD) has declined to reveal the identity its Acting Director-General to the public. The acting director is a Director from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

    This has made pensioners under the Directorate, the Defined Benefit Scheme pensioners, to be jittery over who is temporarily superintending over their pension matters.

    Some of them are worried and have asked if he is a ghost acting DG the way there are ghost pensioners in the country.

    The acting DG resumed at PTAD on March 15, this year following the suspension of the substantive DG, Nellie Mayshack by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun over allegations of fraud.

    Investigation has however revealed that the Acting DG is a male.

    Since his resumption, two press statements have been issued by PTAD  signed by the acting DG and the other endorsed by Head Corporate Communications, Theodora Amechi

    The first statement announced the suspension of Mayshack and the resumption of the Acting DG without mentioning his name.

    The second statement endorsed by the acting DG assured pensioners of the payment of 33 per cent arrears and the payment of benefits to Next of Kin (NoKs) of deceased pensioners.

    Suprisingly, he failed to disclose his name to the  public throughout his statement and in a group picture.

    When the Directorate was called to find out his name, no one including the Head of Communication was willing to respond.

  • PTAD and the brutality of politics

    All over the world, countries that strive to develop oftentimes look inward in terms of the best of its human and material resources. Where these are in abundance, it becomes a huge plus for that country, and when these materials are harnessed and put to optimum use, rapid growth becomes the result. However, where human resources abound, for instance, but are not put to proper use, and the policy of use-and-dump is encouraged, government suffers, development goes into recess and the people are ultimately robbed of the benefits of the services of these resourceful individuals.

    Thus it is public knowledge that our beloved country is unarguably one of the richest countries in the world as it boasts of some of the best in terms of human resources. It is quite gratifying that since 1999 when democracy was restored in Nigeria, successive administrations have deemed it expedient to tap into the intellectual, administrative and managerial wealth of highly valued Diaspora Nigerians by inviting them to contribute their quotas to the development of motherland.

    It is with this benefit of hindsight that Ms Nellie Mayshak the suspended Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD), was appointed in 2013 following the establishment of the agency in August of that year under the Pension Reform Act 2004, to consolidate and manage pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) aimed at integrating pensioners who did not transit into the new Contributory Pension Scheme that was introduced in 2004.

    The need for the engagement of a Coordinator with the qualification, requisite skills, competence and cognate experience, that would have the primary and sole responsibility of ensuring full and expedited implementation of the project became very necessary. The Jonathan administration with the advice of the then head of Service, Alhaji Boni Yaji and the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala found Nellie Mayshak very apt for the job. What with her impressive resume as an international development expert with nearly three decades in public sector management with stints in UK, Eastern Europe, Canada and several African countries including Angola, Cameroun, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, South Africa, and Sudan. Also, as a one-time Adviser in the office of the Prime Minister of Kenya and Cabinet Office of Uganda, the Nigerian government had no doubt that she was going to bring her wealth of experience to bear in the running of PTAD and this she did with the impressive gale of successes that the agency recorded under her supervision.

    Prior to her appointment, the Defined Benefit Scheme was riddled with monumental cases of misappropriation and allegations of fraud for several years which elicited public outcry over what was seen as an open and mindless pillaging of the sweat of our hapless pensioners. The cumulative effect of all these  was an unfortunate situation of bloated payroll and accumulated liabilities, unremitted and unaccounted trapped funds with pension underwriters, thereby increasing backlog of pension liabilities that were mounting on a daily basis.

    This was the sorry state of the Nigerian pension scheme before the appointment of Ms Mayshak, who swiftly and deftly applied her experience to turn the Scheme around using modern technology and automated processes to drive payment efficiency, a development that has significantly ameliorated the plight of thousands of the hitherto vulnerable Nigerian pensioners, who depend on their monthly pensions for the sustenance of their livelihood.

    This has not only introduced transparency and accountability in pension payments, but has to a very large extent, ensured that the management of the DBS is fraud free, and has changed the paradigm of pensioners from gross neglect and disaffection to relief and hope.

    Sadly, those who perpetrated pension fraud in the system over the years watched with heightened consternation while the system was being cleaned up. The axiom that when you fight corruption, corruption will fight you back became rife in no time.  Before we knew it, oppositions from some notable government agencies with stakes in pension business mounted, as series of petitions started flying right, left and centre accusing PTAD of moving too fast with consolidation. Insurance companies that defaulted in the payment of pension funds as well as fraudsters delisted from pension payroll also joined in the growing number of oppositions against PTAD.

    It is also on record that there was no love lost between the agency and a one-time accountant general of the federation over a job schedule with financial underpinning which was ultimately decided on the side of the former.

    No sooner was this matter resolved than the seat of power was regaled with  series of anonymous petitions accusing her of misappropriation of funds, nepotism, inflation of contracts and using companies allegedly linked to her to corner juicy contracts at PTAD.

    It did not therefore come as a surprise to watchers of events when Ms Nellie Mayshaks name made a huge appearance in the public and social media domain when she was handed a suspension letter by the supervisory minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

     Yes, corruption must be fought, no doubt; yes, culprits must be brought to book and punished if found culpable, no doubt; but hauling large stones and casting same at public officials considered to be corrupt or imagined to be, would certainly belie whatever gains that are anticipated in the war against corruption. One would have expected that a public official who is working hard to align with the current government in line with its change mantra be glorified rather than being vilified.

    What benefits are there to be used and dumped by ones government based on unfounded allegations of official graft when it is clear that the proverbial hand of Esau has been busy beating the drum of infamy in a system where moral rectitude has become a scarce commodity?

    Some of her numerous detractors even went to the ridiculous extent to say  that Ms Mayshak has been paying herself the sum of N60 million on a monthly basis, when there exists a fixed consolidated salary structure for PTAD, duly approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages commission in which the total salary/allowances for PTADs DG is less than N3.5million a month  which is one of the least among agencies of government in the financial genre such as CBN, FIRS, PDTF, PPRD, PENCOM and others. How is it possible for a civil servant to arbitrarily fix salary/allowances for his or herself without any recourse to the Wages and Salaries Commission that fixes the salaries and allowances of Public Servants in her cadre?

    It is saddening that government could allow itself to be swayed  by those who have benefited from pension fraud in the past and it must realize the likelihood of the incidences of  pension fraud being resuscitated if those who are after Ms Mayshaks head succeed in the long run.

     Questions and more questions! But why go on, when it is quite evident that the Nigerian Civil Service is infested with politically minded individuals with their willing collaborators in the private sector? Their venom is unmistakable. When they sink in their fangs, they leave indelible injuries!

    It is hoped that the government would carry out thorough investigation to get to the roots of this pension cankerworm in order to reengineer trust in the minds of well meaning Diaspora Nigerians who may be interested to come home to serve the government of Nigeria in future.

    • Adeniji is a Lagos based social ammentator.

  • PTAD assures pensioners of 33% arrears, NOKs benefits

    Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has assured pensioners of the payment of 33 per cent arrears and benefits to Next of Kins (NOKs) of deceased pensioners in the very near future.

    PTAD Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Theodora Amechi ,made this known in a statement made available to reporters in Lagos. She said the assurance came during a meeting between the management of PTAD and representatives of the National Union of Pensioners (NUP), National Association of Retired Paramilitary Officers (NARPO), Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria (ARPON) and the Association of Public Service Retirees in Abuja.

    According to her, details of the 33 per cent arrears payment are to be agreed with the various pension groups before payment.

    She said the unions’ representatives were reassured that the Federal Government recognises its obligation to pensioners, adding that the Directorate apologises for any delays pensioners may experience in the course of complaint resolution, stressing it is a process they have to undergo for things to be done correctly to enable PTAD pay the right persons.

    She reiterated that PTAD is working hard to resolve all complaints and other issues affecting their members, and noted that their doors are always open for the resolution of complaints and communication between PTAD, their pensioners and other stakeholders.

  • PTAD strategises for better service

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) is re-strategising and setting a new agenda for improving and sustaining excellent service delivery to pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), its Director-General and Executive Secretary, Mrs. Nellie Mayshak has said.

    In a statement, Mrs Mayshak expressed delight at the progress the agency has made, adding that it is a model agency of government, working diligently towards making Nigeria’s pension system credible, transparent and comparable to international standards.

    She said the agency held a three- day strategy planning session in Abuja to set the direction for the agency’s medium to long term objectives.

    According to her, over the last two years of its existence, PTAD had focused on consolidating the payment of pension to Police, Customs, Immigration and Prisons, Civil Service and Parastatals Pensions which it inherited from legacy schemes and has been cleaning up the payrolls of these groups.

    The clean-up of these payrolls, she said, had seen PTAD embark on  on-going verification, which has enabled the agency to identify unqualified pensioners, areas of over-payment and underpayment and the update of records of next of kin (NoK) of deceased pensioners.

    She said: “With the sanitisation of the payroll under way, the agency thought it timely to set a new agenda for improving and sustaining the excellent service delivery it has come to be known for to pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

    “The three-day strategy session, reviewed the agency’s mandate as contained in the 2014 Pension Reform Act (PRA), which created the agency, and reassessed the vison, mission and core values that would guide the operations of the agency in the medium to long term.

    “A follow-up session to validate the decisions reached at the strategy session is scheduled to take place in the coming days and the final outcome will be communicated to all the stakeholders.”

    She urged the workers of the agency to continue to exhibit the PTAD culture of excellence in all they do.

  • PTAD validates next-of-kins, to pay entitlements

    PTAD validates next-of-kins, to pay entitlements

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) is set to validate all Next-of-Kins (NOKs) of parastatals’ pensioners in readiness to pay entitlements of late employees.

    Its Director-General, Ms Nellie Mayshack made this known during a nationwide validation for NOKs in Lagos.

    According to her, the NOKs who were verified by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) between 2008 and 2012 during the Parastatals Pensioners Verification Exercise (PPVE) Phase 1, belong to the education and health sector workers who died while in active service.

    She said the exercise was held in six centres in five states and Abuja. They are Gombe, Kaduna, Enugu, Lagos and Edo.

    She said: “The NOKs were required to present documents, which include PenCom Verification Slip, Valid and proper means of Identification, Bank Account Number (NUBAN), Bank Verification Number (BVN) and one coloured passport photograph

    “In addition, families of NOKs who are now deceased were asked to attend the exercise with the death certificate of the deceased from a government recognised hospital and Letter of Administration. Sick and infirm NOKs should call PTAD toll-free telephone number before the commencement date for any special arrangements.

    “PTAD is exercising due diligence by validating the NOK records in readiness for payment to them. This is in view of the time lapse between the period of PenCom’s revalidation exercise and the payment period.”