The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said that it will commence the payment of the new minimum wage of 2019 to pensioners in line with the consequential adjustment from the May 2021 payroll
This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme at a Press Conference on the implementation of the adjustment.
She stated that payment of the arrears of the pension benefit would also commence in May, to take effect from April 2019, and cautioned beneficiaries not to give money to anybody in the name of facilitating their payment as arrangements have been concluded to pay directly into pensioners’ personal accounts.
“It is my immense pleasure to interact with you and brief you this morning. The Presidential approval for the implementation of the consequential adjustment to the pension benefits occasioned by the new minimum wage of 2019 has been granted and the circular released. With this approval, PTAD is now empowered to start the upward adjustment of all pensioners’ benefits according to the approved template.
“The consequential adjustment of the new pension payment will start from the May 2021 payroll. The arrears will take effect from April 2019. PTAD will also commence payment of the arrears from May 2021.
“It will be recalled that on the 22nd of April, 2021, I issued a Press Release to inform the general public of the sincerity of Mr. President to implement the consequential adjustment on the pension benefits. I made it emphatically clear that the Nigeria Union of Pensioners has no reason to go on any protest because the matter was at the conclusive stage.
“As a responsible agency of government saddled with the mandate of overseeing the payment of pension benefits to pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme and taking care of their welfare, we are encouraged to do more for our pensioners. We will continue to strive to improve the quality of their lives.
“Let me at this point inform and caution our senior citizens once again, that PTAD will not request for any gratification from anybody before the money will be paid into their account. They should not give their account details to anybody. They should report any scammer or anyone requesting gratification before their benefits would be paid to PTAD. I repeat do not give money to anybody. We have concluded arrangements to send SMS to all pensioners informing them of the payment and to caution them on the activities of pension scammers.
“We continue to appeal to pension unions to continue to partner and cooperate with the directorate in our bid to provide better services to our senior citizens.