The Association of Federal Public Service Retirees on Thursday urged President Goodluck Jonathan, to direct the immediate reinstatement of the Pension Reform Task Team led by Abdulrasheed Maina, to manage their affairs.
Chairman of the group, Chief Emmanuel Omoyeni, who made the appeal at a news conference in Abuja, also warned leadership of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners to stop interfering in the affairs of federal government retirees because they are not in the same association.
The group noted that the PRTT impressively transformed the pension system while in operation until it was stopped in controversial circumstances.
Omoyeni said, ” The president should reclaim these most impressive transformational achievements of the pension system because it is the only permanent solution to the pensioners plights in Nigeria.”
He lamented that the Pensioners authentic Biometric database which the federal government had expended huge resources to create, was not being used at the moment because it is in the custody of the PRTT.
He noted that the smart cards produced by the PRTT with the intention of stopping the incessant verification that usually caused the death of pensioners, would serve as proof against further stealing of pension funds.
According to him, ” There are over 142, 000 pensioners files painstakingly produced and converted into electronic filing system by the task team. These are very Important assets without which the Pension system could not be documented for efficient management.
“The Electronic Pension Management System developed by the PRTT, is a platform through which the pensions funds could be transparently monitored by the EFCC, ICPC, SSS, police and equally serves as an effective mechanism against corrupt practices, has not been concluded by the PRTT”
Omoyeni also added that the record of pension arrears payment for over 52, 320 pensioners of which referring to it, the Pension Transition Arrangement Office may repeat payment, is with the task team.
He insisted that a successful pension transition would not be achieved without the conclusion of the pension offices restructuring which was started by by the PRTT.
He said, “The pension reform task team is still in force based on the court judgement because if the court says that the sitting of the National Assembly on the matter was illegal, that means that nobody has dissolved the pension reform task team.”
