Ebere Nwoji
The federal government has been called upon to restructure the current leadership of the Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate( PTAD), to avoid the collapse of the current formidable pension system it has built for Nigerian workers.
A group of pensioners under the aegis of Association of Retired Senior Public Officers of Nigeria (ARFESPON), who made this call in Lagos, alleged incompetences and on the part of the present leadership of PTAD led by Sharon Ikeazor.
ARFESPON in a recent interview with THISDAY in Lagos said the present leadership of PTAD “is like a square peg in a round hole” arguing that Ikeazor is not a professional and knows little about pension.
President, Lagos Chapter of ARFESPON, Olufemi Odewabi, said the government should understand that positions in a sensitive office like that PTAD, should not be filled by political appointment, but purely on merit and experience.
He said pensioners prefer professional accountant, well conversant with fund management to man the office than the present situation whereby it is manned by a lawyer.
He said the way and manner PTAD leadership handles pensioners’ affair, shows that she is in -experienced.
According to him, the present leadership of PTAD is destroying the agency due to lack of professionalism and experience, pointing out that the head of PTAD leadership team has neither been a civil servant nor a professional accountant, therefore does not have indept knowledge of pension matters.
He said because of her lack of experience, the way and manner she handles pension issues is capable of destroying all that government has already put in place to address pension problems in the country.
ARFESPON, also urged government to pay up the outstanding 18 months arrears of the 20 percent increase promised to pensioners in 2010 and to consider its members’ interest in the proposed increase in workers’ salary in the face of the recession in the economy.
Odewabi quoted section 173, sub section 4 of the Nigerian constitution which states “pension shall be reviewed every five years or together with any federal civil service salary reviews whichever is earlier”, and urged government to take cognisance of that in dealing with pensioners.
He recalled that federal government, effected increase in pension benefits last in 2010, adding that even with that, it is still owing its members 18 months of the 20.4 percent of the 2010 increase.
He said though government understands the play cards language easier, ARFESPON members lack the strength to carry play cards but can throw stones.
He called for immediate restoration of the delisted pensioners’ names and payment of their arrears.
ARFESPON, is made up of retired management level officers from salary grade level 14 to permanent secretaries, comptrollers-generals of Customs, Immigration and Prisons and career ambassadors, lamented that because of the delisting, some of its members have not received their pension benefits since November last year.
