The attention of pension transitional arrangement directorate has drawn to a press statement purportedly issued by a group called the Association of Former Telecoms Employees of Nigeria (ATEN) published in the Independent Newspaper of 2nd September 2018.

In the said statement, ATEN deliberately and maliciously insinuated, rather falsely, that the Directorate and the Federal Ministry of Finance had submitted and defended “huge amount of money” for the payment of monthly pension to ex-workers of NITEL/MTEL, suggesting that the action was “ illegal and against the law”. Nothing could be further from the truth.

To be clear, PTAD verified 15,212 NITEL/MTEL pensioners, following the approval granted by the Honorable Minister of Finance (HMF) on 10th February 2017 for the enrolment of eligible pensioners of 10 defunct/privatized agencies including NITEL. The HMF’s approval followed the unrelenting agitation by representatives of the various pension groups for enrolment into “Pension for Life”. These agitations predated the advent of the present administration.

Before it embarked on the NITEL/MTEL verification exercise in February 2018, PTAD made it abundantly clear that the mandate of the Directorate was to verify and enroll eligible pensioners for the purpose of payment of monthly pension, in conformity with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (2014). This was what the Directorate did in the cases of Delta Steel Company (DSC), Nigeria Reinsurance, Federal Housing Authority (FHA), NICON Insurance and Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) civilians. PTAD is also on the verge of enrolling eligible pensioners of NITEL/MTEL. The current campaign of disinformation being perpetrated by the fringe group will, therefore, not distract PTAD from meeting this noble objective, nor will it distract from the Directorate’s ability of improving the welfare of pensioners.

The above position is strongly underscored by the outcome of the NITEL/MTEL verification and computation exercise which is summarized below:

Total No. of Pensioners/Noks verified                                                      15,212

Decomposed as follows:

Number of eligible pensioners computed (to be put on payroll)                      9,198

Number of not eligible for pensions (served less than 10 years)                    3,233

Additional information required for processing                                                1,385

Number of NoKs                                                                                              1,385           

Total                                                                                                                15,212

Basis of Computation:

  1. Eligibility: Minimum of 10 years of service by 30th September 2006 (date of privatization).
  2. Salary Structure used: NITEL salary structure received from Federal Ministry of Communications and Bureau of Public Enterprises.
  3. Pensionable Allowances:
  • Basic Salary
  • Housing Allowance
  • Transport Allowance
  • Meal Subsidy
  • Utility Allowance
  • Domestic Servant (Eligible Staff Only)

4. Federal Government approved rates of increment were applied based on date of retirement as follows:

  • 150% with effect from 1/1/1999
  • 30% with effect from 1/1/2000
  • 142% with effect from 1/5/2000
  • 6% with effect from 1/10/2003
  • 15% with effect from 1/1/2007
  • 33% with effect from 1/7/2010

All computations are subjected to clearance by Resident Auditors from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF).

Please note that the Directorate’s immediate priority is to put the eligible NITEL/MTEL pensioners on payroll for the payment of monthly pension

The payment of monthly pension to eligible NITEL/MTEL pensioners will commence soon. All accumulated arrears will also be settled as soon as possible. All those who do not qualify under extant laws will be informed individually.

 

Signed
Management