Sharon Ikeazor, Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Administration Directorate (PTAD) says the sum of N38 billion is required to pay outstanding 33% pension arrears to 238,533 retirees.
Ikeazor disclosed this during the 2017/2018 budget defence held at the instance of the House Committee on Pensions chaired by Hassan Shekarau.
Ikeazor added that the Directorate also received a total sum of N16 billion assets and money as Legacy Fund from some Insurance companies out of a total sum of N25 billion Legacy Fund.
She added that the Directorate opened a recovery account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) where the Insurance companies are to remit the Legacy Fund.
BusinessDay recalls that NICON Insurance transferred N13 billion worth of assets to the Directorate, while the Directorate recovered N5.6 billion from Leadway Assurance Limited, Custodian Life Assurance Limited, LASACO Assurance Plc and African Alliance Insurance Plc over the past two years.
Enumerating some of the challenges facing the agency, Ikpeazu disclosed that fraudulent family members of dead pensioners are collecting their pension payments.
According to her, family members withdrew the monthly pension payments of dead kin for about two years before the Directorate detected at the point of renewal of the ATM cards.
In a bid to stem such practices, she unveiled plans for issuance of biometric cards called ‘I am alive status’, stressing that government is “losing so much to those families by not letting us know they are dead.”
According to her, the Directorate is working with Master Card to achieve this. She further stated that plans are underway to deploy POS machines to various parts of the country as part of efforts to ensure easy access to pension allowances.
Ikeazor observed that a total of N38 billion was owed the Police was N1.6 billion,N6.1 billion to the civil service and N30.1 billion to parastatals.
“The quantum of liabilities comprised of the arrears of 33 percent pension increment which the Federal Government approved in July, 2010, but the implementation of which did not start until 42 months later, in January 2014.
“There was also the outstanding death benefits of Next- of-Kin, as well as the arrears owed to pensioners who were arbitrarily removed from the payroll under the previous dispensation.”
She further disclosed plans to commence verification of NITEL and MTEL pensioners as from 15th January 2018, starting with Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos in the first phase, while Kano, Gombe and Abuja would be carried out in the second phase.
The chairman and members of the committee applauded the organisation for turning around pension administration and payment.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
