PTAD deletes names of 900 pensioners over unverifiable data

Names of about 900 pensioners have been deleted from the nation’s pension list as their biometric details/records could neither be verified nor ascertained, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Ms Sharon Ikeazor has revealed.

Ikeazor, who made the revelation at the weekend in Abuja while answering questions from Journalists, explained that all efforts to verify the necessary details of the affected pensioners proved abortive.

The affected persons, according to her, would no longer be entitled to collection of pension.

She explained that the nation is now presently left with a list of 220,000 pensioners after the removal of the 900 names.

The Executive Secretary listed some of the challenges facing PTAD to include; poor pensioner records management, several verification exercises with no credible database, slow manual procedures and poor service delivery as well as negative public perception.

Ms Ikeazor made it very clear that PTAD, during her tenure, would have zero tolerance for corruption, unlike in the past when the sector was bedeviled with lots of sharp practices and other forms of vices.

While pledging to fight hard to protect the rights of the pensioners, the Executive Secretary assured that necessary decency will also be brought into the administration of pension in the country.

According to her, “my mission is to give pensioners back their dignity by protecting their funds, ensuring promptness of their payments and serving them with empathy and compassion even when we cannot immediately resolve their issues.

“We will also build a strong agency of government that is well structured and complies with regulations. This forms the platform upon which we can sustain optimal pensioner satisfaction. We will ensure prudent and efficient financial resource management.

“We will work towards a proactive stakeholder buy-in and collaborations to improve the welfare of pensioners and the industry”, she concretely assured.

The Executive Secretary identified the focus of PTAD in the year 2017 as; completion of the civil service verification exercise, implementation of the parastatals verification, digitalization of PTAD and security database and strengthening the operations of its state offices.

She equally assured that automated and standardizes processes would be put in place to ensure that pensioners do not suffer unnecessarily and to receive their due pensions monthly.