The executive secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) Dr Chioma N. Ejimeke has said that the agency is determined to screen, verify and enrol 813 pensioners of Bank of Agriculture (BoA) across the country into its payroll.
Ejimeke made the disclosure Tuesday in Kano during PTAD’s BOA’s Pension Screening exercise for the North West and North East geo political zones held in Kano.
According to her, PTAD has already completed screening of pensioners from the South East and South South zones were 101 pensioners were screened and verified accordingly.
She said “We are in Kano to verify retired staff of Bank of Agriculture, (BOA) and together with the National Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Staff that were transformed into BOA the exercise will be conducted.
The ES stated further that they all fall within the purview of PTAD because they have retired under the Defined Benefit Scheme.
“BOA has been taking care of their pensioners’ entitlements over these periods though it was a huge burden for them, because of that, in September 2020 the Ministry of Finance with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari had transformed them to PTAD for it to continue shouldering the responsibility of paying them their pensions entitlements monthly.”
She said right from then, PTAD is doing what it knows best by enrolling them into the Pension Payroll as you are witnessing today.
“We have make sure that they are eligeable, bonafide pensioners hence we have done the biometrics, and we have solid Data base when we conclude we are going to Validate, Compute and enrol them properly into the scheme.”
Ejikeme said PTAD is going to continued from where BOA had stopped in the settlement of Pension and we are going to identify where we have challenges because some of the Pensioners have lost their documents due to one reason or the other.
”Pensioners from the North East reportedly lost their first Appointment letters, Letter of Retirement among others due insurgency where all their houses were set ablazed by bandits.
In her remarks, during the verification exercise the BOA Head of Human Resources Mrs Yakubu T.W said she came purposely to represent BOA and to assist PTAD to screen and verify all their Staff for them continue enjoying their pension benefits through PTAD.
Mrs Yakubu TW said BOA has been working with PTAD for a very long time since its establishment in August 2013 in compliance with the provisions of the repealed Reforms Act PRA, of 2014 .”
One of the BOA Pension beneficiary Alhaji Muhammad Garba Secretary of the BOA Pension Association described the exercise as going on smoothly without any hindrance .
” Our hope is that if they finished screening of our monthly stipends, they would increase the monthly stipends.
He promised to cooperate with PTAD in order to achieved maximum results.”
