The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), a Federal Government agency, has initiated an extensive computation project aimed at verified pensioners and the Next-of-Kin (NOK) of deceased pensioners.
Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, the Executive Secretary of PTAD, highlighted this initiative in a statement conveyed by Mr. Gbenga Ajayi, PTAD’s Head of Corporate Communications, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ejikeme emphasized that the project aims to address issues related to the non-payment of gratuity and death benefits to pensioners and their next of kin, respectively.
She clarified that the undertaking stemmed from complaints by some pensioners and NoK of deceased pensioners who hadn’t received their gratuity and death benefits despite verification conducted years ago.
The Executive Secretary outlined that the delay in disbursing payments to Next-of-Kin is a result of the meticulous scrutiny applied to their documents. This scrutiny is imperative to prevent the misallocation of funds to incorrect beneficiaries. Additionally, Ejikeme cited delayed responses from organizations where the deceased pensioners had previously worked as another cause for the payment delay.
“The expanded project will check and categorize all verified NoK files and claims of non-payment of gratuity to identify and pay all eligible NoK and pensioners with unpaid gratuity.
“The Directorate, therefore, calls on Next-of-Kins of deceased pensioners who have been verified by PTAD but are yet to receive their payments to send their complaints to nokcomplaints@ptad.gov.ng.
“This is to enable the project team to investigate and resolve their complaints,” Ejimeke said.
