PTAD Concludes Verification Exercise For Pensioners From Civil Service Pension Dept–Official

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) says it concluded verification exercise for pensioners from the Civil Service Pension Department (CSPD) and the Police Pension Department (PPD).

It also announced the commencement of the second phase of the Parastatals Pensioners’ Verification Exercise.

The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Sharon Ikeazor, confirmed the development to journalists on Wednesday in Port Harcourt during an interactive session with pensioners.

The interaction marked the flag-off of the second phase of verification exercise for Parastatals’ Pensioners for South-South zone, under the Defined Benefit Scheme.

The parastatals’ pensioners verification exercise is for pensioners and next of kin of all federally funded parastatals, Agencies and Institutions under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) in the South South.

The exercise covers retirees in no fewer than 270 agencies including Federal Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Educations, Teaching Hospitals and Medical Centres.

Retirees from Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Nigeria Postal Services are also covered in the second phase of the exercise.

Similarly, research institutes and other treasury funded parastatals, agencies and institutes as well as retirees of the defunct/privatised agencies who are yet to be privatised would be covered.

They include the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Aviation Handling Company, Assurance Bank and Nigeria National Shipping Line.

The exercise which began on May 20 and expected to be rounded off on June 1 would cover Benin City, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Calabar centres.

Ikeazor said that three of the four departments in PTAD had so far been covered.

The PTAD also concluded verification exercise for pensioners from the Nigerian Custom Service, the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigerian Prison Service, under the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Department (CIPD).

Ikeazor said: “There are four departments in PTAD; we have concluded verification exercise for three of the departments.

“We have concluded the Civil Service Pension Department and the Police Pension Department.We have also concluded verification exercise for the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigerian Prison Service. Now, we are doing Parastatals’ Pension department.’’

Also, the Director, Parastatals Pension Department, Mr. Suleiman Sheleng, said under the Defined Benefit Scheme, parastatals pensioners from 274 agencies would be verified.

Sheleng said: “It is very obvious that all the processes have been simplified. They have been made pensioners’ friendly. All the non-value adding processes have been removed.

“We have got a very simple process considering that we are verifying parastatals pensioners from 274 agencies, who have different salary structures, different conditions of service. So, what we have done is to consolidate all these into one process so that we can avoid repeated visits to the city.

“We want to take it sector-by-sector. Probably, it will go one for another two years until we finish.Under this current arrangement, we will be done by October this year. We would have gone round this country.

“We started in April in Lagos and now, we are in the South-South. The next one will be South-West, South-East, North-East, North-West and we end up with North- Central.”

Also, a retired officer of the defunct Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL), Robinson Egbor, who spoke with journalists at the Port Harcourt centre, lauded PTAD for organising a hitch-free verification exercise.

Egbor said: “When it is good, Nigerians should acknowledge that. When it is bad, we should not be afraid to say so.

“I have been here since Monday to assist our people who came from outside Port Harcourt. It has been wonderful. I have not seen verification where people did not collapse. Elderly people are not being held because they are feeble. Here everything is working. There is no cutting corners. You stay on the queue and you are served.”