The Chairman, Military Pensions Board (MPB), AVM Paul Irumheson, says the Federal Government has approved an electronic verification system for military pensioners to ensure sanity in pension administration.
Irumheson stated this while addressing newsmen on the commencement of the electronic verification exercise nationwide on Friday in Abuja.
He said the initiative was aimed at sanitising military pension administration and elimination of issues of impersonation.
The chairman said the board adopted an electronic verification system to reduce the risk of traveling from one place to another, and the cost of transportation owing to their old age.
“You may recall that on Feb. 15, I briefed this honourable press about the board`s intention or plan to move from physical verification to electronic verification for our military retirees.
“The reasons amongst others include security risk of travelling from one place to the other; old age of some of our pensioners; and high cost of transportation, particularly for those staying abroad,” he said.
Irumheson said the board successfully conducted a pilot test from Feb. 15 to March 1, adding that only 15 of the 2,000 pensioners verified failed the process.
He said the little observations noticed had been used to improve on the system.
According to him, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, have approved the commencement of the verification for the esteemed pensioners.
The chairman assured that the board would carry out sufficient public awareness to enable pensioners to navigate the system with ease.
He called on military pensioners to take advantage of the electronic verification exercise as those who failed to, would seize to receive their pensions.
“I hereby declare the Electronic Verification Exercise officially open on full scale for all our retired pensioners for a period of three months from July 1 to Sept. 30.
“Finally, the Board wishes to advise all pensioners to take active part in this exercise.
“Those that fail to take part in the verification exercise will not get their pensions going forward,” he said.(NAN)
By Sumaila Ogbaje
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