NANFeatures/Vol.11/No.22/2017 (Jan. 27)
Making pension verification friendly: The PTAD example
A News Analysis by Mike Mboye, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Pa Charles Jumbo, 98, a retiree, was one of the pensioners captured at home in Bonny Island by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) during the verification of retired civil servants in Rivers recently.
What impressed Jumbo was what he described as friendly approach to handling elderly citizens who were unable to be physically present at the pension verification centres.
Buttressing the nonagenarian’s observation, Mr Charles Wali, PTAD team leader for Rivers, said officials of the directorate even travelled to towns such as Isiokpo, Ogbakiri, Alakahia and Port Harcourt to capture elderly pensioners who could not walk or who were in the hospitals.
“In all, we captured 10 of these categories of pensioners at home or in the hospitals,’’ he said.
He, however, said that the team captured more than 3,000 pensioners in the state during the eight-day exercise aimed at making verification easier for the retired civil servants.
“ The essence of this verification is for PTAD to develop and have a data base of the pensioners that the Federal Government is paying under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS)’’, he said.
Analysts opine that PTAD introduces the nationwide verification exercise on the platform of DBS to have a comprehensive database of pensioners in its kitty.
PTAD insists that the exercise becomes imperative as PTAD, hitherto, did not have a credible database and there is need to verify all pensioners to resolve all anomalies as mandated by the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
Appraising the exercise, Mr Emmanuel Okeh, a 79-year old pensioner, said PTAD ensured that the verification was not difficult for the retirees.
“ I am aware that PTAD provided six wheel chairs for those who could not walk and provides snacks and lunch for us throughout the eight days the exercise lasted.
“ We were made comfortable, especially those of us who could not walk, we were given quick service and allowed to go home. Other pensioners had good comfort while waiting for their turns also,’’ he said.
Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Festus Abibo, state chairman, Nigeria Union of Pensioners, said the union was satisfied with the verification exercise, especially the welfare of members.
“ There is an improvement in the previous exercise because our members were given good treatment.
“ We are impressed with the arrangement because it worked. Pensioners were also given water and food while waiting to be captured. It’s an innovation and we are happy.
“In spite of the challenge encountered on the first day, PTAD successfully arranged it to be done on local government basis,’’ he said.
Abibo also made a case for quick payment of pensioners verified to save them the agony of waiting endlessly for their money.
“ This is a priority. The essence of this exercise is for payment to be facilitated immediately.
“We discovered that some pensioners in Rivers with Federal share are not on payroll and they have undergone difficulties without payment.
“ We are pleading with PTAD to ensure that pensioners are paid immediately the exercise is over,’’ he said.
The verification exercise gained the attention of the National Assembly that monitored it as part of its oversight function.
Sen. Nelson Effiong, a member of Senate Committee on Establishment and Public service, commended PTAD for a successful handling of the pension verification exercise.
Effiong, who visited Port Harcourt centre during the exercise, said he was impressed with what he saw.
“This is the first time a pension verification exercise has been so successfully organised; nobody collapsed during the exercise; it is excellent.
“I believe that at the end of this verification, there will be no pension fraud again in this country,’’ he observed.
He promised that the verification would also be conducted at home for ailing pensioners who could not make it for the exercise.
Observers note that with the scanning of employment records and capturing of pensioners biometric, PTAD is creating a permanent record and pensioners may not need to come out for such verifications in future.
Mrs Theodore Amechi, Head Corporate Communications, PTAD, said enough manpower was deployed to ensure the success of the exercise in all verification centres.
With the success of the exercise in Rivers and the innovation, analysts believe that when the exercise takes place in other zones, pensioners will be made to feel at home and undergo less cumbersome processes following the Rivers’ example.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)