Ex-NLC Scribe Urges FG to Probe PTAD over Pension Glitches
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The immediate-past General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Peter Ozo-Eson, has asked the federal government to urgently beam it’s searchlight on the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) before things gets out of hand in the establishment.
Ozo-Ezon, who said he voluntarily retired from the services of the University of Jos on May 3, 2001, at the rank of an Associate Professor, decried the long delays in the payment of pension to retirees by PTAD.
In a statement signed by Ozo-Ezon, the former NLC scribe lamented the treatment meted at to him as a retiree by the agency, describing it as a death sentence to retirees.
He urged: “All relevant agencies of the government with oversight and supervisory responsibilities over PTAD, including the relevant committees of the National Assembly, to intervene and ensure that the directorate is alive to its responsibilities and is operating above board.”
The labour leader said given the sad history of the abuse and looting of pension funds in Nigeria, the government should investigate who is benefiting from the backlog of withheld funds.
Ozo Ezon said: “A timely searchlight needs to be beamed on the directorate before the situation gets out of hand. I have decided to issue this statement on the basis of my personal experience, because I am convinced that my situation is not unique to me.
“I am convinced that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of retirees going through similar unsavory treatment by PTAD. While I am taking personal steps to seek redress, I am convinced that as a public institution, PTAD needs to be held accountable.”
Narrating his ordeal Ozo-Eson said: “I wish to, therefore, through the media, call on all relevant agencies of the government with oversight and supervisory responsibilities over PTAD, including the relevant committees of the National Assembly, to intervene and ensure that the directorate is alive to its responsibilities and is operating above board.
“I am a retiree, who draws monthly pension under the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). I voluntarily retired from the services of the University of Jos on May 3, 2001, at the rank of an Associate Professor. After the due process of documentation, I was placed on the monthly pension payroll. Years later, on invitation, I went to Jos physically for a verification exercise.
“I continued to receive the monthly pension until September 2020 when it suddenly stopped. I received no communication regarding the stoppage.
“After several e-mails and failed calls to PTAD, which were not answered, I eventually found my way to the directorate’s head office in Abuja in June 2022. I was made to go through a process of documentation and data capture, which took two days.
“Thereafter, I was issued a Pensioner’s Verification Acknowledgement Form dated June 23, 2022. I was assured that I would be restored to the payroll and that the backlog of unpaid allowances would be paid.
“In July, when I received no payments, I went to the headquarters’ office to raise hell, but I was calmed down by the civility and respectfulness of the lady staff who attended to me. She pleaded that I should exercise more patience as her enquiries confirmed that my payments would be restored in August.
“I impressed on her that these payments determined whether some retirees lived or died! She assured me that my payment would be restored in August. On September 7, I returned to PTAD’s head office since I still had not received any payment. I raised hell, but another lady, a director, intervened and pleaded with me to exercise further patience. She assured me that she was going to follow up on the matter and asked me to come back a week from then to get a feedback.
“When I came back on September 14, she made some phone calls and then confirmed to me that my payment would be restored in October. She assured me that she would follow up and ensure that there was no failure.
“When October came and passed and I still had not received any payment, I wrote formally to the directorate on November 9. As of this moment, I have not received any response to my letter and I still have not received any payment.”
Ozo-Eson said withholding the monthly pension of retirees for months and now, even years, is capable of rushing them to untimely death, particularly since some of them depend exclusively on such payments for their daily up-keep and purchase of medications which sustain them.
