PTAD Executive Secretary visits Military Pensions Board …as 50 NAHCO ex-workers get final entitlement
Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) Executive Secretary, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme paid a working visit to the Chairman, Military Pensions Board, Major General A. B.Adamu at the Board’s Headquarters in Abuja on Friday August 7, 2020.
PTAD Executive Secretary, on PTAD official Twitter handle said the visit was to create a synergy between the two agencies and to work out modalities in promoting best practices in pension administration.
Meanwhile, the Directorate has paid the 3rd batch of 50 NAHCO Ex- workers their One-Off payment of their outstanding entitlement.
So far a total of 172 NAHCO beneficiaries have been paid in the three batches payments made between the months of June and July.
The Executive Secretary of PTAD has appealed to all pensioners who are not yet pay-rolled to exercise patience, noting that the Directorate is systematically servicing the liabilities agency by agency, sector by sector and category by category.
According to her, “I would continue to appeal to all we are owing pensions, gratuity, one -off payments, arrears, NOK entitlements, not yet on payroll to kindly continue to bear with us. We are systematically servicing these liabilities, Agency by Agency, Sector by sector, Category by Category.”
Recall that the Executive Secretary, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme had said the Directorate will continue to pay the beneficiaries in batches subject to availability of funds
The payments are in fulfillment of PTAD’s promise in a statement on June 11, 2020 that the Directorate was ready to pay the verified Ex-Workers and Next of Kin (NoK) of NAHCO in line with the takeover approval of pension- related matters of some agencies, privatized/liquidated by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, among which is the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO).
The Executive secretary, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme had, in the statement, explained that the Directorate carried out a physical verification and biometric capture exercise for eligible ex-workers and Next-of-Kin (NOK) of deceased ex-workers of NAHCO during the Directorate’s nationwide Parastatals Pensioners Verification Exercise conducted in 2019.
The collated data, according to her were subsequently subjected to rigorous due processes culminating in the computation and auditing of the entitlements of the verified ex-workers and NOKs.
She had promised that the Directorate was prepared to make payment in batches to NAHCO ex-workers and NOKs that are eligible to receive the one-off (Final) payment.
The payments so far made by PTAD is in respect of any outstanding terminal benefit that may exist as at the effective date of NAHCO privatization when the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) entire equity holding in the company., adding that the Payment would be made in batches subject to availability of funds.
PTAD boss had stated that the effective date of the privatization of NAHCO was 31st August, 2005, stating that all ex-workers who exited the Company prior to privatization of NAHCO had been fully settled by the Company and do not have any outstanding terminal benefits.
She had explained that the Federal government was not responsible for the period served beyond the effective date of NAHCO privatization and thus all ex-workers and NOKs in this category are not under the purview of PTAD.
All NAHCO ex-workers engaged after the effective date of privatization, according to her, do not qualify for any entitlement under this arrangement and assured all and sundry that the welfare of Pensioners remains PTAD’s priority at all times.
