Robust Pension System Can Reduce Corruption In Public Service – PTAD
L-R: Olugbenga Ajayi, head corporate Communications; Dr. Suleyman Shelleng, Director, Civil Service Pension Dept, Mrs. Nneka Obiamalu, Director Pension Support Services Dept; Kabiru Yusuf, Director Parastatals Pension Dept, Deputy Director, Police Pension Dept, Mrs. Christiana Adebote; Mr. Abdulla Abubakar, Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Dept., and Dr. Ihuoma Ikemba-Efughi, Special Assistant to Executive Secretary at the training workshop for Insurance and Pension Correspondents in Lagos.
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) said a robust pension system can reduce the spate of corruption in public service if not completely eradicated.
The Director, Civil Service Pension Department (CSPD), Mr. Sulayman Shelleng, said this yesterday while presenting “Overview of Civil Service Pension Department” at a one-day capacity building organized by PTAD for members of National Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) in Lagos.
He said if we strengthen the pension system, the corruption in public service will reduce. Some public officers amass wealth in order to secure their future. If there is a smooth and robust transition from active service with regular payment of salary to prompt pension payment, the corruption in public service will reduce if not eradicated completely.
Shelleng said the directorate inherited 129,999 civil service pensioners, verified 115,313, and presently has 107,785 on its payroll.
He maintained that the payment of 21 months arrears of consequential adjustment in pension by the directorate as a result of the new national minimum wage has amounted to over N19 billion.
Earlier in her welcome address, PTAD Executive Secretary, Dr Chioma Ejikeme who was represented at the event by the Director, Parastatal Pension Department, (PaPD) Mr. Kabiru Yusuf, said the Directorate’s intervention work of ensuring the wellbeing of pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) has yielded positive results in the nation’s pension industry.
She said the directorate has successfully changed the narratives of the pensioners under the scheme, noting that the feat was achieved through a robust relationship with the media.
Ejikeme said prior to the inception of PTAD in 2013, the payment of pensioners under the DBS was marred by lot of anomalies resulting in all sorts of corruption to 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.
Speaking on “Resolving Pension Complaints and “I Am Alive Confirmation Solution,” the Director, Pension Support Service Department (PSSD), Ms Nneka Obiamalu, assured that her department was committed to resolving all complaints from pensioners,
She said as part of ensuring complaints resolution, PTAD has introduced ‘I Am Alive’ an online pilot confirmation of pensioners under the DBS. The web-based application, according to her, is designed to confirm the aliveness of pensioners.
