By Ngozi Onyeakusi—-The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said that it’s intervention work of ensuring the wellbeing of pensioners the Defined Benefit scheme (DBS) has yielded positive results in the nation’s pension industry.

The Executive Secretary PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, while delivering a speech at a one day capacity building for members of National Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) in Lagos, said the directorate has successfully changed the narratives of the pensioners under the scheme .
According to her the feat was able to achieve through a robust relationship with the media.
Ejikeme, who was represented by Director, Parastatals Pension Department, Kabiru Yusuf, said prior to inception of PTAD in 2013, payment of pensioners under the DBS was marred by lot of anomalies resulting in all sorts of corruption at the detriment of the pensioners.
He noted that all the issues inherent have been resolved through verification and validation which has saved cost for the country.
Earlier in his presentation, the Director, Civil Services Pension Department, (DCSP) Sulayman Shelleng, noted that the department inherited 129,999 civil service pensioners, verified 115,313 of them and presently has 107,785 on its payroll.
According to him, the payment of 21 months arrears of consequential adjustment in pension by the department as a result of new national minimum wage has amounted to over N19 billion.
Shelleng, called for robust health insurance for pensioners noting that pensioners are vulnerable to different kinds of ailment.
Also the director, Pension Support Service, Nneka Obiamalu assured that her department was committed to resolving all complaints from pensioners adding its complaints resolution mechanism ‘ I Am Alive’ which was still in its pilot stage has been assisting a lot.
PTAD was established in Aug 2013 to manage the old pension scheme (DBS) for pensioners who retired on or before June 2007 and did not transit to the new scheme.