By Henry Uche
With the unprecedented level of fraudulent activities in different aspects of the economy across the country, the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has reiterated its commitment to zero-tolerance to all manner of pension fraud.
The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, gave this affirmation recently in Abuja, when newly elected Executive members of the National Association of Retired Paramilitary Officers (NARPO) led by its President, Alhaji Musa Kayode, paid her a courtesy visit.
Welcoming the NARPO officers, the PTAD boss assured them of President Muhammadu Buhari’s unprecedented commitment to the welfare of pensioners in the country.
“I must reaffirmed our commitment to zero-tolerance to any form of fraud regarding Pension. President Muhammadu Buhari is committed too, to the welfare of pensioners across board. That’s why we’re working round the clock to ensure that pensioners receive their entitlements as and when due after meeting every necessary steps.”
Ejikeme while appreciating NARPO exco for their patience and the disciplined manner in which they conducted themselves even in the face of daring unresolved complaints, she tasked pensioners to swiftly report any form of fraudulent activity from any person regarding their due.
She added that no personnel of the Directorate would ever contact or request for payment from any pensioner before rendering services for which they are paid. She urged them to swiftly report to the Directorate any person/s both within and outside the Directorate who seek for any form of kickback in any guise.
“No staff of the Directorate would call nor request for payment from a pensioner before rendering due service. Pensioners are therefore urged to report such fraudulent phone calls to PTAD.”
Earlier, President of the Association had solicited the support and collaboration of the Executive Secretary regarding their welfare.
“The aim of this visit is to make ourselves known to the management of PTAD, and seek for same support and collaboration the Executive Secretary extended to the past executive of our Association. We are promising to serve as worthy intermediary between PTAD and our members,” he assured.
In another development, PTAD’s boss has decried technological glitches leading to the non-payment of pension to retired federal civil servants in Lagos.
In a monitored interview, she said her agency was working on fixing the challenge causing the delay in payments.
Meanwhile, Lagos state secretary of the National Union of Pensioners, Abiodun Michael, had lamented that some pensioners were being owed up to nine months.
He said, “Most of these people, their money go into medicals,” he said. “They are dying everyday. In a week, you will get four to five obituary annoncements ”
But Dr. Ejikeme was insistent that it wasn’t the fault of PTAD, but the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
“We send for reports from Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) to get the payments that have been made. Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes more. “So we have that lag in communication as to whether the payments we made failed or not. And when we have such a situation, when the pensioner complains, we ask them to send us their statement of accounts, so that we can confirm that that payment didn’t go through.
“If he (Abiodun Michael) says 18,000 pensioners have not been paid, it means that PTAD has a bias for Lagos state pensioners. Why is it that the other pensioners from other states all over the federation are not making the same complaints?