Servicom Will Boost Pension Administration, Says Ahmed

James Emejo in Abuja

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has said the implementation of the SERVICOM
Charter will lead to better and efficient pension administration in the country.

She pointed out that the importance of the document cannot be over-emphasised especially in light of the appalling conditions of pensioners in the past.

Ahmed, while speaking at the launch of the
Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD)’s Service Charter in Abuja, however, commended the quest by the agency for service excellence in pension administration.

She was represented at the occasion by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Appointments, Promotions and Discipline, Mr. Pever Michael.
Essentially, SERVICOM is an acronym for Service Compact and remains an initiative of the federal government which was conceived to promote effective and efficient service delivery in agencies of government.

It seeks to ensure customer satisfaction and to manage the performance expectation gap between government and citizens as well as other members of the public.

The minister said: “These pensioners are elder statesmen and women that had served this nation in various capacity in the past and deserves to be treated in a dignified manner to ensure that their labour was not in vain.”
She also commended the management and staff of PTAD for the innovative policy and measures being implemented to better the pension administration system.

“I encourage you to continue in this trajectory to ensure that international best practice are adhered to when handling our pensioners,” she said.
Executive Secretary/Chief Executive of PTAD, Mrs. Chioma Ejikeme, said the agency remained committed to delivering quality service to pensioners under the defined benefit scheme.

She further explained that the document was thoughtfully developed to serve as an internal policy to guide both staff and pensioners alike on service delivery standards.

She pointed out that PTAD had been operating on the servicom preparation to the unveiling of the charter.
She said: “As it were, we’ve been running the organisation in line with the tenets of what Servicom stands for.
“We can only do better. We want to say that we will continue what we are doing – improve our services and we appreciate the feedback from the public to let us know what we are not doing right.”

Ejikeme also said servicom is, “like a stamp to what we are doing. The charter reels out what we stand for; the quality of service we give, timelines associated to the quality of service so that our pensioners can hold us responsible when we don’t do what we’ve said.”

She added that PTAD is committed to ensuring the integrity of the pension administration system so that pensioners are rest assured that their entitlements will be paid accurately, fully and on time.

She added: “The charter is expected to evolve as the organisation grows and as changes take place internally and externally. PTAD will remain responsive to pensioner/stakeholder feedback and their changing needs.

“Please, note that PTAD’s service charter is not intended to extend any legally enforceable rights to any stakeholder group. It is meant as a service delivery guide for all stakeholders and staff.”