FROM: Dappa Maharajah .
TO further ease the anomalies associated with the payment of pensions and gratuities to pensioners in the country, the Federal Government has begun Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) for verification exercise.
The first phase of the exercise, implemented by FG agency, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), started in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states on Monday August 14 and will end tomorrow.
The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Barrister Sharon Ikeazo, while addressing journalists in Akure yesterday, said the DBS would assist to maintain a comprehensive database of pensioners like it is mandated in the Pension Reform Act of 2004.

She lamented the burdens and hardship experienced by pensioners in the past, stressing that they deserve better treatment after they had sacrificed Great parts of their life to serve the nation.
She, however, disclosed that the agency established in 2003 did not inherit a credible database, “there was therefore an urgent need to verify all pensioners under the DBS to enable PTAD resolve their complaints.”
Aside that, the Secretary added that it would eliminate other payment anomalies such as over-payment, under-payment, accurate computation and an update for other important documentations.

“The essence of digitizing to employment records and biometrics of pensioners is to create a permanent database of the records and ensure that pensioners are not asked to come out again for such a detailed exercise,” she said.
She stated that adequate personnel and logistics had been deployed for hitch free exercise, adding that date for similar exercise in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states would be made public soon.
As part of the preferential treatment, she announced that over five hundred aged and sick pensioners in Ondo State would be captured under the mobile verification by visiting them at homes and hospitals.

According to her, “This will be the very last verification exercise for our pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme which is what PTAD handles. We are going to have I am alive verification and they can do that at the comfort of their homes through their mobile phones and through their debit cards.

“At PTAD we see and treat our pensioners as royalty because we feel that they laid the foundation on which Nigeria is built today and we do honour and treat them with dignity.”

Visits by our correspondent to the venue of the exercise at International Cultural and Event Centre (DOME), Akure, revealed the warmth, comfort and effective service delivery enjoyed by the retirees.
There are two different registration halls with four points: scanning/digitization, quality control, document verifier, biometric and capturing, with adequate PTAD personnel attending to the retirees who are given food daily.

The pensioners described it as a welcome development, enthusing that it is stress-free and void of hurdles like it used to be in the past when some of
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), National President, Dr Afolayan, expressed satisfaction with the conducive atmosphere created by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for the verification exercise in Akure.

Similarly, the state NUP chairman, Chief Ralph Adetuwo lauded the Federal Government for coming up with the physical verification and biometric innovation. He said it would end the untold hardship confronting pensioners nationwide.
Adetuwo stated that the union would collaborate with the agency to ensure that none of the 5054 pensioners in the state, especially those that are sick and living in difficult terrains, is left unverified.
They described the exercise as unequal in the history of pensioners verification exercise in the country, commending the agency for its welfare initiatives for the aged pensioners.
“This is best so far in the history of the country and I commend PTAD for this initiative and I am sure this initiative will go a long way to ease the burden of pensioners in this country.

“They provided wheel chairs for the aged who cannot walk into the hall while medical personnel were put on standby, in case of any emergency. I think we are getting there gradually in the country,” they said.