Pensioners under the aegis of Association of Retired Federal Senior Public Officers of Nigeria (ARFESPON), has expressed disappointment with the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), for failure to place pensioners on the normal position on government approved payment table.
ARFESPON members at the end of the year meeting held in Lagos, welcomed the new Executive Secretary of PTAD, Tolulope Odunaiya to her new office, and drew her attention to what they described as anomalies in PTAD payment system and requested her to address the situation.
The Chairman ARFESPON Lagos branch, Olufemi Odewabi, in address regretted that during a similar meeting at the end of 2023 year, the pensioners had hoped that the year 2024 would be better, "but unfortunately it was not anything to write home about in terms of achievement."
This, he said, was why he tagged his end of the year address, "Pensioners' lamentation".
According to Odewabi, at the beginning of the year, Pensioners envisaged that PTAD would mend its fault by arranging to bring them to the normal position on government approved payment table.
He said contrary to this expectation, PTAD still maintained its stand to shortchange pensioners.
Highlighting these areas of shortchange of pensioners by the agency, Odewabi said, "The 20 percent that the government said should be paid to pensioners from January, 2024, which was paid in arrears in August 2024 was only paid to a handful of pensioners."
According to him, PTAD had appealed to the remaining pensioners to hold on for some time, "but up to the middle of November, nothing ever came out."
"Now is it paucity of fund or what is the reason for the delay? has PTAD come to think of it that most pensioners are living to die any moment, he quarried. He requested that any of their benefit should be given to them while they are living, adding that up till now no pensioner has enjoyed anything of the promise that the President has been mentioning.
"Another promise of N25,000 palliative for three months by the government is yet to be paid.
"Another N32,000 across board payable to pensioners (with effect from August 2024) while active workers were paid N40,000 across board have not been paid to pensioners, up till now. Pension authorities have not given reasons why grade level 15 and above pensioners have not been distinctly paid domestic servants allowances which other pensioners in others arms enjoy"
In a nutshell, Odewabi said PTAD had been unconcerned about pensioner's rights.
He recalled that early this year, ARFESPON Lagos branch wrote the Chairman Salaries, Income and Wages Commission complaining about the non-use of the government officially approved table for payment. adding that pensioners were short changed.
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He said this ought to have drawn the attention of ICPC and EFCC because money for the payment would have been given to PTAD.
He further said his association wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance about the predicament of pensioners and nothing had been heard since then.
He therefore called on both the new PTAD Executive Secretary and Minister of Finance to listen to their pleadings and respond positively before the pensioners leave this world.
