Federal retirees reject reinstatement of pension reform team

Briefing newsmen at the weekend in Abuja, the National Vice Chairman of the Association of Federal Public Service Retirees (AFPSR) Geoffery Chima, said any call on President Goodluck Jonathan to reinstate the PRTT does not reflect the stand of the retirees or that of the association. “The retirees are not calling for the comeback of […]

Briefing newsmen at the weekend in Abuja, the National Vice Chairman of the Association of Federal Public Service Retirees (AFPSR) Geoffery Chima, said any call on President Goodluck Jonathan to reinstate the PRTT does not reflect the stand of the retirees or that of the association.
“The retirees are not calling for the comeback of the Pension Reform Task Team. My chairman did not speak for retirees or for the association when he made that call. Our members never held any meeting with him anywhere to call for the return of the pension reform task force. In fact after media publications on the call, the association wrote him a letter telling him to desist from using the name of the association for his own personal opinions. Since the past eight months he has not called for any general meeting,” he said.
He said the retirees cannot call for the return of a team which embezzled 159 billion naira pension funds.
Chima said the retirees are content with the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) which was established in August 2013 and has been charged with the management of their pension.
According to him, the pensioners are happy with the management of their pensions under the present Director General of PTAD saying since it came on board, their salaries are paid regularly at the due date every month.
 He said the only area they need improvement is for the speedy payment of the backlog of arrears of about 15, 000 pensioners, and also for the DG to carry the Nigerian Union of Pensioners along so that they can make their contributions for success, adding that the PRTT failed because it didn’t carry pensioners along.
The vice chairman called on the federal government to implement the 53.4 percent promised pensioners since 2010 saying by 2015 they will be due for another increment.