DBS: Pensioners relish in new narrative for pension administration
Prior to the establishment of the Pension Transitional Directorate Arrangement (PTAD), the management of the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), also known as the ‘old pension scheme’ had a very bad reputation.
Government was flooded with allegations of misappropriation of pension funds, neglect of pensioner’s welfare and other malfeasance.
The public outcry led to widely publicised public hearings and criminal proceedings against suspected pension thieves.
Presently, pensioners are relishing in reforms that has changed the narrative of pension administration in the country.
Neglected Pensioners Welfare
The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, said pensioners suffered to get their pensions with reports of pensioners sleeping under staircases and on floors of pension offices.
She stated that many pensioners did not receive their monthly pensions as and when due, others were owed pension arrears while many Next-of-kin (NOKs) had not been paid death benefits for years with some up to 10 years or more, after the death of the officer.
Also, verification was hard on pensioners as many suffered from the stress of crowds, queuing for long hours, among other hardships.Related News
In some cases, pensioners had to pay money to get their pensions or arrears, she said.
Pension Reform
Against this background, PTAD was established in August 2013 to consolidate and manage pensions under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) for pensioners who would not transit into the contributory scheme introduced in 2004.
PTAD is thus an agency of the Federal Government, established in compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act of 2004, repealed and re-enacted in 2014. The PRA 2014 provides for PTAD to consolidate old pension offices
Thus, according to the Dr. Ejikeme, PTAD inherited very complex pension schemes that were mismanaged and did not have reliable data or information
Key Challenges at Inception
She disclosed that there were no personal information and employment records of pensioners under the DBS, rather, duplicate names and account numbers on inherited payrolls was what existed.
She said: “Over 50,000 complaints were inherited from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, over 30,000 qualified pensioners not on payroll and there were no clear way for pensioners to get their complaints, issues and concerns addressed and so many pensioners had even given up.
“We inherited unfunded liabilities like pension arrears, 33 per cent arrears, gratuity and death benefits. There were issues of disorganised, error-prone manual computation/calculation of pension benefits; Lack of adequate/appropriate office space to accommodate walk-in pensioners; Inadequate staffing of offices and provision of appropriate technology work tools; Poor pension file management leading to damaged records and lost hope; and Rude and unruly behavior of pensioners…To be continued next week
