By Chukwuma Umeorah
Former General Secretary of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Dr. Peter I. Ozo-Eson, has berated Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) over irregularities and unpaid benefits of pensioners describing it as a plot to send them to their early graves.
In a statement signed by him, Ozo who is also a retired Associate Professor of Economics, University of Jos, and receives his pension from PTAD, disclosed that the payment of his pension was brought to an abrupt end in September 2020 without prior information or legitimate reason for the stoppage.
“I am a retiree, who draws monthly pension under the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). I voluntarily retired from the services of the University of Jos in May 2001 at the rank of Associate Professor. After due process of documentation, I was placed on the monthly pension payroll. Years later, on invitation, I went to Jos physically for a verification exercise. I continued to receive the monthly pension until September, 2020 when it suddenly stopped. I received no communication regarding the stoppage,” he revealed.
According to him, he had sent countless mails and made numerous calls which were not responded to. He was therefore forced to make his way to Directorate’s head office in Abuja in June 2022 where he was made to go through a process of documentation and data capture, which consumed two full days. Thereafter, he was issued a Pensioner’s Verification Acknowledgement Form dated June 23 2022.
He lamented that despite several assurances by the Directorate, till date, his benefits had not been paid which included backlogs since September 2020. He held the belief that many other pensioners under the PTAD were suffering the same fate describing it as a deliberate plot by the Directorate to send pensioners to untimely graves as many of them depended solely on the money for their up-keep and medical supply.
According to him, “Withholding the monthly pension of retirees for months and now, even years, is capable of rushing them to untimely death, particularly since some of them depend exclusively on such payments for their daily up-keep and purchase of medications which sustain them.
“In any case, given the sad history of the abuse and looting of pension funds in Nigeria, one must wonder who is benefiting from the backlog of withheld funds. A timely searchlight needs to be beamed on the Directorate before the situation gets out of hand.”
Ozo who sought the involvement of the Press as the next line of action to resolving the issue also called on all relevant agencies of government with oversight and supervisory responsibilities over PTAD, including the relevant Committees of the National Assembly to intervene and ensure that the Directorate is alive to its responsibilities and is operating above board.
“I have decided to issue this Press Statement, on the basis of my personal experience, because I am convinced that my situation is not unique to me.
“I am convinced that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of retirees going through similar unsavory treatment by PTAD. While I am taking personal steps to seek redress, I am convinced that as a public institution, PTAD needs to be held accountable,” he said.