From: Uche Usim, Abuja
Executive Secretary of the Pensions Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor has revealed why her parastatal took over the pensions payment of 8,000 Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Delta Steel Company (DSC) retirees.
Speaking at the flag-off the biometric verification for the two organisations in Abuja recently, the PTAD boss said they were adopted following a directive from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) earlier in the year.
She, however, assured the retirees of the two establishments of excellent service delivery both in the area of pension payment and verification.
She said: “The directive to take up the responsibility for the pension liabilities of the enterprises privatized by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), amongst which are FHA DS, was communicated through an approval letter received from the Federal Ministry of Finance sometimes in February 2017.
“Verification centres are in Delta State, Lagos and Abuja. About 8,000 of them are being expected”, she said.
Commenting on the exercise, Mr. Onofiok Ekong who retired as a General Manager of the DSC company in 1995 expressed joy that the verification held.
He was also impressed with the arrangements made by PTAD, saying it showed the Directorate was ready to attend to them.
He was among the hundreds of excited pensioners who turned up for the four-day exercise in Abuja centre.
In Delta State, the exercise will last for eight days and in Lagos, five days.
The process involves documents review, biodata capturing and including them in the comprehensive database towards enrolment for monthly pension payment.