Garba Shehu: FG has released N54b for pension

The federal government has released N54 billion for the settlement of inherited and current liabilities to retirees on the platform of the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, disclosed this when he featured on an interactive radio programme, ‘Hannu Da Yawa’ on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Kaduna.

The programme was part of activities to commemorate the second anniversary of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He also revealed that the Buhari administration had directed that regular monthly remittances be made into the retirement benefits bond redemption fund (RBBRF) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure the continuity of timely payment of benefits to retirees.

“In addition, pension assets increased from N4.96 trillion in June 2015 to N6.42 trillion as at March, 2017, indicating a growth of over 29 percent,” he said.

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to ensure the strengthening and accountability of PTAD.”

Shehu said the federal government had brought to an end the series of fraud and scandals around the issue of pensions in Nigeria.

He said that this feat was achieved by strengthening the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), which had introduced a number of innovative measures over the past two years.

Shehu noted that the bank verification number (BVN) policy had also been implemented in the pension scheme, with over 103,000 civil service pensioners verified.

“Pensioner records have also been digitalised for secure archiving, with thousands of thousands of old, physical pension folders converted to e-files,” he said.

“In addition, the government of President Buhari has enforced a new level of commitment to the welfare of pensioners and retirees, with the PTAD creating an automated and centrally administered complaints management process with a dedicated call centre that receives and treats over 200 calls on a daily basis.”