From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate has challenged pensioners in the South-South Zone to engage contestants at the federal and state level in their programmes for the welfare of pensioners.
The Executive secretary of
Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, has stated that Nigeria needs a president who can listen to the plight of the pensioners.
Ejikeme, who stated this in Calabar at a Stakeholders Engagement Forum organised for pensioners in the South South Zone of the country amd held in Calabar on Wednesday,
said the country cannot afford to go back to the time when pensioners were owed for months.
She said the PTAD is grateful to President Buhari for making the interest of pensioners Paramount.
“As we enter the campaign and election season, it is pertinent that pensioners should engage the contestants at all levels, to find out their position or antecedents in pension management, and get a firm commitment from them regarding the welfare of pensioners.
“The need to have a President who listens to the needs of pensioners cannot be overemphasized. We cannot afford to go back to the time when the DBS pensioners were owed months of pension arrears and their needs pushed to the back-burner.
“We sincerely hope that the next administration, and who emerges as the President, will be as favourably disposed towards the pensioners of the Defined Benefit Scheme as the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been and has made pensions an un-written first line charge”, she said.
She added that through the unwavering support of President Muhammadu Buhari, PTAD
has completely liquidated the inherited unfunded liabilities of all the Defunct/Privatised agencies handed over to us, with the exception of NITEL/MTEL, which we are fully committed to liquidating.
She added that their journey from field verifications, mobile verifications, to putting together a solid database of pensioners, benefit computation, ensuring the regular payment of monthly pensions and paying long overdue pension arrears to
pensioners, has been a progressive one filled with creativity, dedication, commitment, persistence and milestone achievements.
She advised pensioners against patronising pension fraudstars and thanked the Supervisory Minister, Dr Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and all other major
stakeholders who have made the modest successes achieved by PTAD possible.
Speaking at the event, the national vice president South- South of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Comrade Benjamin Ettah, said the achievements of the PTAD has been wonderful, saying the NUP has resolved to honour him for his concern for pensioners welfare.
