The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) says its collaboration with Military Pension Board and other pension agencies is to evolve measures to enhance the services rendered to pensioners in the country.
PTAD’s Executive Secretary, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, said this when she received the Chairman, Military Pensions Board, Brig.-Gen. Adekunle Adesope, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ikeazor said that continuous stakeholder engagement meant to broaden and deepen PTAD’s relationship and outreach to its external stakeholders, especially those with coordinate responsibilities, was key.
She said collaboration would enable PTAD to tap into the experiences of older pension agency and further replicate same in the treatment of all pensioners, especially those from the paramilitary services.
According to her, the collaboration was necessary to synergise advocacy efforts of pension agencies, to ensure adequate budgetary allocations to defray outstanding liabilities of all pensioners, military and civilian.
According to Ikeazor, there is an urgency for stronger collaboration between the military board and PTAD.
She said collaboration was needed to “ensure the payment of all outstanding pension benefits, especially the arrears of 33 per cent increment and death benefits to Next- of-Kins (NOKs).
It is also needed for prompt payment of monthly pensions to all eligible pensioners and enforcement of uniform treatment of pensioners.
Ikeazor also said that there was the need to also partner and enforce the enrollment of all pensioners into the National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS), to drive down their cost of healthcare.
She said the issuance of combo cards to pensioners, to serve both as discount cards and means of establishing the proof of life by the leadership of the military pensions board was a great initiative.
She said the Directorate was now enthused in finding new ways in improving the welfare of pensioners in not only the short-term, but also the long –term.
According to her, the new paradigm being proposed seeks to create additional values that can be leveraged upon to deliver more value in Nigeria’s pension administration to the benefit of the pensioner and ultimately, the Nigerian society.
Earlier, Brig.-Gen. Adekunle Adesope told PTAD management that the visit was basically to have an exchange of ideas on some challenges faced by the pension board.
“ The visit is to have a common ground on how to resolve the challenges of pensioners which we are saddled with.“
Adesope said the most fundamental among the challenges was measures to safe-guard the integrity of its pension data base, given the possibility of inputting wrong data presented by pensioners.
He said the visit was also to leverage on the method adopted by PTAD in conducting its verification.
“So we want to leverage on whatever experience PTAD had side by side our own in improving our own verification.
“We will like to know how you were able to budget for provision of meals for your pensioners during verification so that we can also make plans for that.
“Another issue is on recovering of erroneous payment made to deceased pensioners from banks.“ Adesope said. (NAN)
