By Victor Ahiuma-Young

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD, has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting pensioners’ rights and wellbeing, unveiling new digital initiatives to enhance service delivery for Federal Government retirees under the old Defined Benefit Scheme, DBS.

Speaking at the 2024/2025 Annual General Meeting, AGM, of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors, NAIPE, sponsored by PTAD in Lagos, the Executive Secretary/CEO, Mrs. Tolulope Odunaiya, highlighted the agency’s mandate and achievements since its establishment.

Odunaiya, represented by the Head of Corporate Communication, Mr. Olugbenga Ajayi, and the Head of Lagos Regional Office, Mr. Casmir Audu, assured retirees of PTAD’s unwavering focus on timely and accurate pension payments.

Mr. Ajayi explained that PTAD was specifically established to handle the pensions of those who did not migrate to the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.

“PTAD’s mandate is to ensure that eligible pensioners receive their due pension payments promptly and accurately. Since the establishment of PTAD in 2013 and up till this present moment, PTAD has never failed to pay pensions every month. That is why we have been able to take pensioners off the streets. That is one of the credibility marks the present government is enjoying because nobody is diverting money meant for pension payments anymore,” he said.

Ajayi said PTAD had introduced several innovative solutions, including Field Verification, the I Am Alive Confirmation platform, and Mobile Verification.

“As we progressed, we discovered that we shouldn’t be calling our fathers and mothers, especially those from far distances, to come and do verification here in Lagos, and a technology was introduced. We call that technology ‘I Am Alive’ Confirmation. Why do we call it ‘I Am Alive’? Because pension under DBS is for life. Once you are still alive, you are entitled to your pension. I Am Alive enables pensioners to confirm their status even inside their homes at any location. This is done through an internet-enabled phone, and anybody can help you do it. Once you confirm your aliveness status, in the next six months your pension will continue to run,” he said.

He explained further: “We have introduced Mobile Verification for people who are sick, or those who are alive but are incapacitated to attend normal verification. We schedule mobile confirmation for those who have done I Am Alive verification but later fall sick.”Ajayi also clarified PTAD’s funding structure to address concerns about pension fund mismanagement. “PTAD is a federal government treasury-funded agency with no commercial bank account. Our responsibility is to prepare schedules of pension payments. PTAD doesn’t have any account in any commercial bank, so we don’t keep any money because we are a treasury-funded agency. 

Pensions are paid by the Central Bank directly into pensioners’ accounts. Our duty is to prepare the schedules of payment, and it will pass through various tables including Federal Auditors, Internal Auditors, and the Office of the Accountant-General. 

So, it is not something that somebody will just wake up and say PTAD has money somewhere,” he explained.

He assured retirees that PTAD was fully committed to protecting their entitlements and ensuring efficient service delivery across its 13 offices nationwide.

“PTAD is ensuring that nobody tampers with pensioners’ money,” Ajayi emphasised.