President Muhammadu has announced May for the commencement of payment of the increased pension to retirees to reflect the new minimum wage.
This follows the presidential approval for the implementation of the consequential adjustment to the pension benefits occasioned by the new minimum wage of 2019.
Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, while briefing journalists, noted that payment of the new pension to retirees will commence from May.
Ejikeme is the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), which is the federal government agency established in August 2013 in compliance with the provisions of Section 30 sub-section (2) (a) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) of 2004 (amended in 2014).
She noted that with the approval, PTAD would commence the upward adjustment of all pensioners’ benefits according to the approved template.
The PTAD chief also announced that the arrears would take effect from April 2019 and the agency would commence payment also in May.
According to her, “the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has no reason to protest as the issue was at the conclusive stage and PTAD will continue to work hard to improve the quality of the lives of the senior citizens.”
Ejikeme, however, warned that the payment of the new pension benefits would be done as a responsibility of the government and no form of gratification would be requested.
She asked the pensioners to report anyone requesting gratification before their benefits would be paid.
The PTAD chief appealed to the senior citizens to continue to cooperate with the agency to provide better services to them.
